Chivas USA announced Friday that the club has acquired midfielder Martín Aarón Ponce on loan from sister club Chivas Guadalajara. The 20-year-old will be eligible to play for the Red-and-White pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate. Per club and league policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A product of Chivas Guadalajara’s youth academy, Ponce has played in all of Chivas' youth teams. Most recently, he was a member of Chivas Rayadas in the Segunda División (third level of Mexican soccer).
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Ponce had been on trial with Chivas USA leading up to his acquistion, and Rojiblancos head coach José Luis "Chelís" Sánchez Solá was enthusiastic about adding him at the time.
“Aarón, I like him a lot,” Chelís told reporters last week. “He is in the position where we don’t have any players like him. I can’t compare him with anybody. I can’t say he’s better or worse than anyone else because I don’t have anyone like him.”
As a member of Mexico’s U-17 national team, Ponce competed in the 2009 Under-17 FIFA World Cup in Nigeria. In that tournament, the Guanajuato native saw action in two games before Mexico were eliminated in the second round.
With the addition of Ponce, Chivas USA’s roster now has a total of four players who have participated with Mexico’s youth national teams: Ponce, Giovanni Casillas, Édgar Mejía and Julio Morales.
