BUENOS AIRES, Argentina After months of wrangling with his club team Argentina's Boca Juniors, striker Claudio Caniggia appears headed to Mexico's first division. Boca's team directors agreed to accept a $700,000 transfer, opening the door for Caniggia to pursue contracts to play abroad. Local media reported that Mexican clubs America and Necaxa are interested in the 33-year-old forward whose troubled past began when he was suspended from the Italian leagues for drug use in 1992.

Caniggia, the blond-haired striker who starred alongside Maradona in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, locked horns with his Argentine club team after the winter season ended in May. Disgusted that Argentina's World Cup Coach Daniel Passarella passed him over, Caniggia decided he wanted to leave his homeland to play in either Europe or Mexico. But Boca's Manager Mauricio Macri refused to release him, insisting on a transfer fee of $2,500,000.

Caniggia balked, saying no team would pay that much for an aging player. He sat out the recent spring season when Boca won its first championship since 1982. (AP)