The 29-year-old midfielder, who has returned to Villarreal after a four-month loan at Boca, told Telenoche news show that he would play for a year without wages at Boca if the Argentinian giants paid the $33million necessary to sign him.

Pompilio, who has effectively taken over as president after Mauricio Macri left to become mayor of Buenos Aires, told TV station TyC Sports that Boca fans will receive some good news next week.

He said: "By Tuesday we will make Villarreal a very important offer.

"The Argentinian Football Association have agreed to give us one more week to sign Riquelme and we are putting together the official offer we'll bring to Villarreal.

"It is a very important amount of money so we hope problems between Villarreal and the player can be solved."

Pompilio admitted the club had to delve deep into its coffers to finance the bid, saying: "The offer is very important in comparison to the figures we usually see in South America but they are in accordance with Boca's finances too.

"The offer is for Riquelme's remaining two-year contract.

"When he completes his contract, he will be a free agent and if he wants to remain at Boca, we'll negotiate then."