Transactions and Transfer News: Ozziel to Tigres; Dávila leaving for Russia?

Ozziel Herrera formally became a Tigre Monday as the defending Liga MX champions presented their newest player who will be eligible to take the field with the Northern Giants in their Leagues Cup opener later this week.

Herrera, 22, missed the first three weeks of the Liga MX season while on Gold Cup duty with El Tri. But shortly after retuning to Mexico last week, Atlas management informed him that the club was negotiating a deal with Tigres.

Initial reports indicated Herrera was interested in moving. With Atlas undertaking a rebuilding project (with Herrera’s departure, all three starting forwards from last season for the Zorros are now gone), the Culiacán native would be able to chase more Liga MX silverware with Tigres.

But that apparently changed. This week, Tigres fanatics were disappointed that Herrera did not show more enthusiasm at donning the club’s kit, especially as he expressed regret at having to leave Atlas. Be that as it may, “los felinos” now have a young athletic winger who has potential to develop into a productive offensive talent alongside André-Pierre Gignac.

Atlas finds a stop-gap

Last week, the Zorros acquired Jordy Caicedo on loan from Tigres to succeed Julio Furch as the club’s top striker.

Caicedo, a 25-year-old Ecuadorian, did not impress during his one season in Liga MX (1 goal in 16 appearances with Tigres during the Apertura 2022) and was loaned out to Turkey’s Sivasspor where he registered 3 goals and an assist in 17 games).

Neither Atlas not Tigres confirmed that the loan deal sending Caicedo to the Zorros was a pre-requisite to finalizing the Herrera transaction, so we won’t make that declaration.

Caicedo started for Atlas in their 1-0 Leagues Cup victory over New York City FC on Monday night.

Elsewhere in Liga MX

Over the weekend, Toluca confirmed the acquisition of Pedro Raúl Garay da Silva, a 26-year-old striker from Brazil.

Pedro Raúl is expected to fill in for Carlos González who was sent to Tijuana before the Liga MX season began.

The Brazilian had a brief cup of coffee in Liga MX back in 2021, seeing action in 7 games for FC Juárez, scoring twice and adding an assist. Since then he has bounced around in Brazil and Japan. He joins Toluca from Brazil’s Vasco da Gama.

Over in León, the reigning Concacaf Champions League winners might lose another front-line starter as Víctor Dávila has received a significant offer from CSKA Moscow.

Dávila has starred for the Esmeraldas – scoring 33 goals – since joining from Pachuca in 2021.

The 25-year-old Chilean forward arrived to Liga MX as a teenager, playing three seasons with the Rayos and scoring 13 times in the red-and-white-striped shirt. He helped “Los Electricistas” win a Super Cup and the Copa MX, both in 2018.

Similar to Luis Chávez, Dávila will pay his own release to help the Moscow side finalize the transaction. The deal has not been officially confirmed, but reports suggest he will leave the club from Los Angeles where “La Fiera” is preparing to play a Leagues Cup match against the Galaxy.