Liga MX rosters being transformed a week before Clausura 2019

Rumors continue to swirl while plenty of players are changing jerseys as the Liga MX prepares for a new season.

Heading into the final weekend of the winter break before the Clausura 2019 kicks off, the so-called “hot stove league” (to steal a phrase from baseball) has been highly entertaining. Fans of the Liga MX will surely need a score card to track their favorite teams.

The Chivas unveiled 9 new team members on Friday in a carefully staged ceremony that was watched live by a reported 16,000 fans online. And the new Chivas – Jesús Molina, Hiram Mier, Alexis Vega, Luis Madrigal, Dieter Villalpando, Ronaldo Cisneros, Tony Alfaro, Carlos Villanueva and Alejandro Mayorga – don’t even include the potential big splash in the transfer market. That would be the return from Germany of defender Carlos Salcedo, a rumor that is igniting plenty of debate on social media.

Chivas fans would love it, but former El Tri coach Juan Carlos Osorio would frown about a premature return from a European league and I imagine Mexico’s next coach would feel the same way. Much preferable for the 25-year-old to play against the top quality competition in the Bundesliga.

ESPN’s Tom Marshall tweeted: “Great for Chivas. Not so much for Salcedo’s career. I imagine family issues may have a role to play if it does come off.”

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Last place Veracruz is another team that has overhauled its roster, though few are big names. The Tiburones have signed 8 new players, but three come from Ascenso MX teams and two from Atlas, the team that finished only 1 point ahead of Veracruz.

Finishing one spot ahead of Atlas in 16th place was Necaxa and the Rayos inked three back-liners to address their leaky defense.

At the other end of the standings, losing finalist Cruz Azul has made some big moves on offense to complement their league-leading defense. The Cementeros acquired Chivas midfielder and Mexico national Orbelín Pineda and forward Jonathan Rodríguez, who was the the third-leading goal-scorer in Liga MX last season while at Santos. This week, general manager Ricardo Peláez brought in Peru international midfielder Yoshima Yotún from Orlando City of MLS. Yotún was a member of the Peru squad that qualified for Russia 2018, the first World Cup appearance for the South American nation in 36 years.

Apertura 2018 champ América has not been very active, though they are looking for help up front. The Aguilas were linked to big León striker Mauro Boselli, but it appears that the Argentine scoring machine will be headed to Brazil’s Corinthians. Upon being told by León management that he didn’t fit into their plans for the Clausura 2019, Boselli said the only Liga MX team he would accept a trade to was América. Otherwise, he wanted to return to South America.

Other strikers to which América has been linked are Colombia international Carlos Bacca (with Spain’s Villarreal), Chile international Nicolás Castillo who starred with the Pumas before moving to Portugal’s Benfica a year ago and Enner Valencia who has been stuck on the bench with the Tigres.

In the meantime, América announced it was returning midfielder Joe Corona to the Xolos as his loan spell has come to an end. The Aguilas are also holding on tight to precocious 18-year-old wizard Diego Lainez who is a target of Ajax Amsterdam. América is demanding 12 million dollars for the midfielder and Ajax seems unwilling to spend more than 10 million dollars.

Elsewhere, Monterrey – a semifinalist – has added Argentine national Maxi Meza, a 26-year-old midfielder who played for his country in Russia 2018 and Adam Bareiro, a 22-year-old striker from Paraguay. They will team up with forward Ángel Zaldívar, the leading scorer for Chivas in the Apertura 2018.

Another playoff team, the Gallos Blancos, acquired 20-year-old Ivory Coast striker Ake Arnaud on loan from Peru’s Universidad San Martín. But Querétaro will be without the services of goalie Tiago Volpi, one of the league’s best keepers. He decided he has a better chance of getting selected for Brazil’s national squad if he plays at home and he’ll be minding the net for Sao Paulo.

The transfer market officially opens on Jan. 1 when new players can be registered with the Mexican Soccer Federation and remains open through Jan. 31, or just before Matchday 5.

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