Written on Thursday, 04 August 2011 11:36
(Chris Beattie is editor of tribalfootball.com)
Chicharito has well and truly lived up to his word for Mexican football.
When leaving Chivas for Manchester United, Javier Hernandez spoke of his aims, which included trying to convince English clubs to take Mexican talent seriously. And in the space of 12 months, his success at Old Trafford has not only opened the Premier League door to any aspiring Mexican youngster, but also presented his federation with a major headache.
Pachuca starlet Marco Bueno has already been offered trials by Liverpool, which are also keen on his teammate Julio Gomez. United are now considering a second signing from Chivas, Erick Torres, who is also on Tottenham's radar and Pachuca goalkeeper Jose Manuel Gonzalez is another under consideration for Premier League clubs.
After winning the U17 World Cup last month, Mexican football identities know they are on the brink of something special.
Gerardo Torrado, the veteran Mexico and former Sevilla midfielder, says: "There is a litter of young players of great quality, some are already abroad. Now these young players have a high profile and certainly will soon join us in the national team. We must treat them carefully, this could be a boom time for Mexican football, this could be our strongest ever generation."
At Pachuca, veteran Dutch coach Hans Westerhof calls the shots and is quick to warn his U17 world champs of the pitfalls of leaving for Europe too soon.
"What about Carlos Vela (of Arsenal)? They've loaned him to the second division, any team in Spain ... It's better to stay in Mexico to play two years as a starter here," he argued. "At Ajax, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Nigel de Jong, all stayed until 21, at least two years of making headlines with the first team, and then went to the best clubs in the world." He added: "I've seen many players at 17 years who went to Barcelona, Manchester United, Spain and Italy and it was the end of their career. "There are many clubs who want to buy players from 17 to 20 years, very cheap, then sell them for a profit, but it doesn't always happen."
But it's difficult to reign in the enthusiasm of young players, particularly when clubs of the stature of Liverpool come calling.
"Right now I'm not aware, I've only heard rumours, I have not talked to anyone," insists Pachuca striker Bueno. "But it would be great to fulfill the dream of going to Liverpool. I used to watch Fernando Torres play for them. He has great skill and I want to be like him."
Despite Westerhof's reservations, Pachuca vice-president Andres Fassi insists Liverpool have been first class to deal with and admits Bueno could be joined by Julio Gomez at Liverpool. "For the moment, they are just phone calls, informal, asking general questions, but not as formal as the progress that we've made over Marco Bueno," said Fassi. "For Bueno, we can offer Liverpool three options: the player will definitely return to Pachuca after this trial, option two is to be acquired by Liverpool, but returned to Pachuca to come of age, or to be acquired and stay there." Fassi added: "I must congratulate the people of Liverpool for the decency and clarity with which they've handled everything so well so far."
It does appear Liverpool are going down the same path as United, which did do their groundwork on Chicharito before pulling the trigger to sign him in January after Sevilla threatened their deal.
For his part, Westerhof feels Chicharito's success in England has been due to United's thorough research. "Chicharito is a great example," he explains. "They had great confidence in him because they were very thorough: technically, tactically, but also mentally."
United are employing the same process in evaluating Torres, who has been likened to the United striker.
Chivas chief Efrain Flores revealed: "Chicharito also debuted at 17 years (the age of Torres) but his progress took a couple of years to consolidate, then two good years of senior football and only then did he end up moving to European football. Erick Torres attracts attention because he's a striker and scores goals. Of course we have big expectations for him, but he is just one of many talented players we have in our youth system."
For every Chicharito, there is also a Vela, and Torrado has urged the likes of Torres and Gomez to think twice about quitting Mexican football too soon. The Cruz Azul midfielder says: "Everyone has their own path and destiny. I went to Europe at 20 years of age, I learned important things there, I had an interesting process of improvement - just as well as I could have had here. Mexican soccer has nothing to be envious of any league. We should value the environment we have here, they (the young players) will decide what is best for their future."
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