For years there has been a lot of speculation regarding the reasons why not that many Mexican players were ultimately signed by European clubs. Since the Mexican media loves to be pessimistic and trash the product that essentially allows them to exist as Mexican sports media which is Liga MX the main culprit was always the lack of talent from Mexican players. While it’s true that not every player that plays in Liga MX could start for a top European club, talent has hardly been the issue over the years. The big problem has always been that European clubs hadn’t yet understood Mexican players as assets to their clubs financially.
Some of the most recent signings of Mexican players by European clubs now seem to reflect that the Europeans are getting it. The 5-year deal that Cesar Montes signed with Espanyol is a perfect example of this. Let us break it down for you!
The 5-Year Contract Shows Espanyol Have Faith In The Player & The Asset
Essentially Montes is going to be on loan at Espanyol. If the team is able to avoid relegation this season they are obligated to pay his full transfer fee which is going to be of about 8 million dollars. From there a 5-year contract is going to kick in. Espanyol is currently 16th in LaLiga and only one point above the relegation zone. So we do have to consider that before talking about the faith that the team is putting on Montes. There’s still a chance that he’s back at Monterrey at the end of the season if the team flops.
The 5 year deal though hopefully will kick in, and it can serve as a great example to other European teams on the value of Mexican players. They open a new market for your team within the Mexican fan base. There have been other Mexican players at Espanyol and it is perhaps because of this that they understand the monetary value of Mexican players more than other clubs. It’s essentially a win-win scenario for Espanyol with Cesar Montes. Of course, this is considering that they avoid relegation. Even if Montes is a total bust in Europe which he likely won’t be considering less talented Mexican defenders have played well in Spain recently, they could loan him out to a Mexican side or even MLS team and recoup their investment. So it’s not a risky deal for Espanyol at all!
Espanyol Has Worked With The Cancun Tourism Board Before, Hector Moreno, Javier Aguirre and So On …
Espanyol seems to be one of the European clubs that certainly understands the value of the Mexican market. They’ve had multiple players within their ranks and were even coached by Javier Aguirre for an important stretch of time. The team did business with the Cancun tourism board which became its main sponsor for a couple of seasons as well. In short, this is a team that knows the risk of signing someone like Montes is not big at all.
At the end of day even if certain Mexican players aren’t necessarily the most bankable stars within the Mexican market they have that little extra sauce that you just don’t get with virtually any other player that you can bring from the Americas. Sponsors are not going to be lining up to do business with your club if you bring on players from certain nationalities, that’s just a fact. Of course, this is a team that’s very much in jeopardy of getting relegated. So they also hope that Cesar Montes can come in and contribute quickly to sure up their defense. Hopefully that will be the case and he’ll have success for years to come in Spain.
