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"Middlesbrough" club acquired the safety Julio Arca from the team that dropped to a lower league last season. The 25-year-old Argentinian defended the honor of the "black cats" for six years, but after lengthy negotiations, the player was acquired by last year's UEFA Cup finalists. The Argentinian moved from his homeland club "Boca Juniors" to "Sunderland" for 3.5 million pounds sterling and quickly became a favorite among the "Wearside" fans and one of the team leaders. However, J. Arca, who was also of interest to Spain's "Espanyol," got permission from the new club's coach Niall Quinn to talk to "Middlesbrough" and became the first player acquired by the latter club when the team's head coach duties were taken over by Gareth Southgate. At the end of this year, J. Arca's contract was supposed to expire, and a clause in the contract allowed him to talk to other clubs about a possible transfer. N. Quinn tried to convince the player to stay at "Sunderland" and promised to offer as much as "Middlesbrough" is offering, but the tempting offer from the "Premier League" club left "Sunderland" no chance of retaining the defender, and he moved to "Riverside." In difficult moments, the player remained loyal to his former club, despite the fact that the team dropped to the lower English "Championship" league in 2003. In 2004, J. Arca also signed a new two-year contract, although Italy's "Fiorentina," Glazgo "Celtic," and local "Newcastle" were competing for this player's services. Wearing the "Sunderland" jersey, he played 177 matches and scored 23 goals.
