Nicolas Otamendi joins River Plate on 18-month contract ahead of final World Cup

[p]"[b]This Friday, May 29, the defender finalized his contract, which will keep him at the club from July 1, 2026, to December 31, 2027. The contract was signed in the presence of president Stefano Di Carlo, in the president’s office[/b]," read the brief statement published by the club on their official website.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/otamendi-nicolas/KSBVnX8R/"]Otamendi[/a], a World Cup winner in 2022, joins [i]M[/i][i]illionarios[/i] on a free transfer after choosing not to renew his contract with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/benfica/zBkyuyRI/"]Benfica[/a], ending a six-season spell at Luz. His last official match for the [i]águias[/i] was a 1-3 victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/estoril/htoKuYZl/"]Estoril[/a], bidding farewell to Benfica with an impressive record of 281 games, scoring 18 goals and eight assists, winning one national championship, a League Cup, and two Super Cups.[/p][embed guid="f1b18739-0968-4d07-8b59-1ff288404099" url="https://x.com/RiverPlate/status/2060484213124538514?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]It is worth remembering that, in Portugal, the centre-back also played for rivals [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fc-porto/S2NmScGp/"]FC Porto[/a] in the past, where he collected seven titles (including three league championships).[/p][p]Now, with his club future settled, the experienced international is turning his focus to the Argentina national team, where he is expected to play a key role in the [i]Albiceleste[/i] defence for the final stage of the 2026 World Cup.[/p]