A lot has been made about Diego Lainez and his potential return to Liga MX. He would’ve technically still been on loan at Sporting Braga, but the Portuguese side literally decided to end the loan that they had with Real Betis. Since then Lainez’s future remains uncertain. There was reportedly a push by Club America to bring their home grown player back. However, the club’s general manager Santiago Baños revealed that Lainez wanted too much to sign with the team.
That money was seemingly not a problem for Tigres who are reportedly the team that’s going to bring him back to Liga MX. Does Diego Lainez fit in this Tigres squad? Is this a good move for his career long term? We’ll get to all of that right here!
Talk About Falling Upward
Here’s a guy that was literally dropped in the middle of a loan spell. That’s just not something that happens often anywhere in the world. However, he still found a way to sign with a new team and make more money than he was making before. We don’t really want to get into the amount of money that Lainez makes or what he was asking for from Club America. There’s an argument to be made that he’s not worth the money that he was asking for, or he’s being paid. He asked for that money though because he knew that there was someone out there in this case Tigres that could pay him. This is a business and fans need to get over that quickly.
Does Lainez Fit At Tigres?
Perhaps one of the more important things that’s worth discussing is whether or not Lainez fits the Tigres play style. The short answer is yes, and he’s probably going to be playing quickly. Does that mean he’s going to succeed at Tigres? That’s certainly TBD! However, Raymundo Fulgencio is just not consistent or special enough. He’s gotten a ton of chances to prove his worth, and he’s more or less shown he’s a middle of the pack player. He could be good for San Luis, Necaxa or someone like that. At Tigres there’s just not a lot of “special” with him.
Most people agree that there should be less foreign players in Liga MX. However, signing guys like Lainez, Reyes, and other players who played in Europe to big money makes certain things rather clear. It’s hard to find good Mexican players! Tigres is not known for developing them, so they rely a lot on these high money signings. To be honest most of them don’t necessarily work out. The last good Mexican signing that Tigres brought in is arguably Javier Aquino. By the way he’s on the way out and Lainez could take over some of his roles. In short Lainez can certainly help the team, but he’s just never been consistent.
What Does This Mean For His Career Moving Forward?
Lainez is young enough to where he could play out a contract with Tigres and then find a European club if he wanted to as a free agent. The problem for him is that even though he’s signed to a big deal he’s got about a year to make something happen. Otherwise, he could get cut like Thauvin. If he gets cut from Tigres he won’t be falling upward anymore.
The problem with Lainez is that he seems to be a talented guy trapped in a 12-year-old’s body. He’s highly injury prone because of this, and it just didn’t seem that he worked to improve himself physically while in Europe. That’s going to change at all in Liga MX. If he doesn’t bulk up and become more reliable he could be where Giovani Dos Santos is within a few years. It could be said that Lainez is Cesar Villaluz with a better agent … look how that turned out.
