Jose Paradela, Argentine midfielder from Necaxa, was officially presented as a Cruz Azul player in the second reinforcement that joins the Maquina Celeste for the Apertura 2025 tournament and will take the place of Uruguayan forward Gabriel “Toro” Fernandez, who was not registered.

Paradela has already appeared in the official records released this Friday, July 11 by Liga MX on its official website, where Uruguayan Fernández was not included because he will train with the Maquina Celeste's Under-21 team while he finds a team interested in his services.

Meanwhile, Serbian Luka Jovic is waiting for another foreign spot to open up on Cruz Azul's roster in order to be registered. So far, Greek Giorgios Giakoumakis is still on the roster, despite the fact that Argentine coach Nicolas Larcamon has not considered him in his plans.

Paradela joined Jeremy Marquez as Cruz Azul's two official reinforcements for the current tournament, where Cruz Azul will make its presentation this Saturday at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario against Mazatlán in the debut of its new coaching staff.

The Argentine reinforcement from Necaxa was presented in a simple ceremony along with the high command of the Maquina headed by Víctor Velazquez and Iván Alonso, who welcomed him and gave him the number 20 shirt in front of the press group that usually covers the cement workers' training sessions.

The details of the negotiation

According to the unofficial details of the negotiation, it is assured that the board of the Maquina agreed to pay an advance of two million dollars and the rest in two exhibitions of three million green bills each, leaving the payment of the rest of the negotiation of the eleven million that was agreed with Necaxa with what they owed them from the Colombian Diber Cambindo.

Paradela will thus be again under the orders of the Argentine Nicolas Larcamon, who managed him last tournament at Necaxa, where he played 15 games with eight goals and the same number of assists.

Luka Jovic depends on placing Giakoumakis

As for Luka Jovic, his signing depends on placing the Greek Giorgios Giakoumakis in Major League Soccer (MLS), but the matter is being delayed because no one wants to take on the Greek's signing for more than ten million dollars and they want to hire him through a cheap loan.

For now, the Cruz Azul board included him in the records for the current tournament, although in the first instance he is not in coach Larcamon's plans, but as long as they do not negotiate him, they cannot have the spot empty and continue paying him the high salary.

So the arrival of the highly-rated Serbian was put on hold while the matter is not resolved.