TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Report
Ecuadorian striker Enner Valencia is set to leave Tigres UANL and move to either MLS or China, according to a new report from Mexican outlet Azteca Deportes.
Valencia, 28, is a pacey, deceptive frontrunner who earned Liga MX Best XI honors in last year’s Apertura season to help Tigres win the league championship. But he’s seen his role diminish during this year’s Clausura campaign, where Los Felinos crashed out in the first round of the Liguilla (playoffs) at the hands of Santos Laguna and fell to Toronto FC in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League.
That’s underachievement by Tigres’ high standards and it appears to have prompted a significant overhaul of the Mexican powerhouse's roster in the offseason ahead.
“We did not fulfill any of our goals, and that makes us reflect on what points are wrong, to be able to change, and we will start working,” said sporting director Miguel Angel Garza this week. “More than investments, we have to see where we are failing, at what point we failed this season and see what the team needs. Our job starting today is to see how we are going to restructure the team.”
Valencia also has stints at Everton FC, West Ham and Pachuca on his resume, and scored three goals for Ecuador in the 2014 World Cup.
