Cruz Azul with its hands tied to sign Luka Jovic and Jose Paradela
Luka Jovic and Jose Paradela will arrive at Cruz Azul as long as the Machine can negotiate Giorgios Giakoumakis to the MLS and Toro Fernandez to Penarol
The arrival of the Serbian Luka Jovic and the Argentine Jose Paradela to Cruz Azul is not as close as one might think, since first The board of the Maquina Celeste has to negotiate the return of the Greek Giorgios Giakoumakis to a Major League Soccer (MLS) team and Toro Fernandez to Penarol.
This was learned by sources close to the cement board who assured La Opinion that everything is going favorably in the signings of the forward who played last season for AC Milan in Serie A and the Necaxa midfielder, but that everything will depend on whether they can free up two spots for players not born in Mexico as required by the regulations.
So far, the Maquina has registered the Colombian goalkeeper Kevin Mier, defenders Gonzalo Piovi from Argentina, the Colombian Willer Ditta, midfielders Ignacio Rivero from Uruguay, the Argentines Lorenzo Faravelli and Carlos Rotondi, as well as forwards Gabriel “Toro” Fernández from Uruguay and the Greek Giorgios Giakoumakis, who complete the quota of eight foreigners that each is entitled to squad.
Under this scenario, for the arrival of Jovic and Paradela, the cement team has to fill two spots, which is why they continue looking for teams interested in Giakoumakis to increase their offer and get closer to the eleven million dollars that the Greek cost in the most expensive signing of the Mexican tournament in recent times.
While for Toro Fernández there is interest from Penarol, but as happens to South American teams they want to pay in small installments, which has complicated the negotiation and the option of moving the foreign spots.
In this way, the next few hours will be key in the future of these negotiations, which if finalized would ignite the summer due to the quality of the two players, especially in the case of Jovic due to the track record he has with teams like Real Madrid and AC Milan, among the most outstanding.
Meanwhile, Cruz Azul continues its preseason work and is participating in a quadrangular in Zacatecas, with the participation of the local Mineros, Santos Laguna, Chivas and Cruz Azul, in what is part of the preseason for Mexican teams.
In this event, La Maquina seeks to adapt to the change in football ideas handled by coach Nicolas Larcamon, who arrived in this tournament to replace Uruguayan Vicente Sanchez, who led the Maquina Celeste to the Concacaf title by beating Vancouver Whitecaps by a landslide.