Uriel Antuna wants to return to European football because at the age of 18 he had a brief experience that he could not consolidate. We present other cases of players who left young people to the Old Continent for the purpose of transcending
Uriel Antuna pointed out that he would rather try his luck again in European football than become a champion with Chivas, and he doesn’t even rule out America as a team he can land in in the future, but his second chance in the league. BBVA MX passes and the numbers it records are far from worthy of attracting the reflectors of the ‘old continent’.
For this reason, ESPN presents the Mexican youth perspectives who have crossed the Atlantic Ocean but returned with empty suitcases from their journey to other latitudes.
Uriel Antuna
Uriel Antuna was the first sale of Santos Laguna by a Mexican footballer, a youth team, to European football. The City Football Group, owners of Manchester City, New York City, among others, caught the capable 18-year-old midfielder. He was considered a candidate to join one of the teams City Group had a relationship with, so he ended up at FC Groningen of the Eredivisie.
He added 19 games and five goals with the U21 category and 22 games with the First Division team. After two years, the owners of his federated rights loaned him to the LA Galaxy, where he stood out until he caught the attention of Gerardo Martino, the Mexican national team coach who took him to the Gold Cup and what he stood out for. his ability.
In January 2020, Chivas paid $ 9.9 million for his services, but now Antuna wants to return to European football.
Efrain Juarez
The 2005 right-back World U-17 Champion in Lima caught the attention of FC Barcelona at the end of the match and left for Catalonia to join La Masía, but his dream was cut short as he was a year away from coming of age and his only option was to play with the subsidiary or the first team, so months later he separated from the Blaugrana club to return to Mexico as he could only participate in training sessions.
Juárez made his professional debut in 2008 with Pumas, a club he stayed with until after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, as his good performance with El Tri caught the attention of Celtic Glasgow.
His start in Scottish football looked promising as he was the undisputed starter for coach Neil Lennon, but an injury separated him from the internal league and the coach asked him to be patient until he got another chance, which didn’t come.
Thanks to Javier Aguirre, then Zaragoza’s coach, Juárez left ‘The Celts’ and moved to the Iberian Peninsula to play for the club on loan, but he did not adapt to Spanish football.
In 2012 he ended his contract with Celtic and came to America with a letter in hand.
Pablo Barrera
Pablo Barrera was another departure to Pumas after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, thanks to his notable participation in El Tri during the tournament, and English clubs such as Manchester United showed interest in his services, although he ended up signing with West Ham United for two seasons.
In his first season with the Hammers, Barrera played just 742 minutes across 14 games, including six as a starter, and didn’t get a thumbs up from coach Avram Grant. A season later, he left for Real Zaragoza to meet Javier Aguirre and Efraín Juárez.
With the ‘blanquillos’, Barrera played 20 duels, twelve of which as a starter and scored a goal, but the loan ended and his European adventure ended in 2012, with Cruz Azul as his next destination.
Ulysses Dávila
At the age of 20, Ulysses left Dávila Chivas to sign with Chelsea for the next five years, but never wore the elastic ‘Blue’ and became a globetrotter on loan.
In the 2011-12 season, Dávila took part in the Eredivisie with Vitesse, a club in which he was relegated to the bench and added just 115 minutes of action in the league, split over two matches.
The following year, midfielder Jaliscience wore the Sabadell shirt in LaLiga2, a team with which he scored 2,205 minutes after participating in 35 games, including 22 as a starter, and scoring four goals.
In a new challenge within the Spanish silver category, the midfielder was part of Córdoba which was promoted to LaLiga in the 2013-14 season, and even authored the dramatic goal that promoted the team in the Play-Off match. . In total, Dávila took part in 37 games and moved the nets seven times.
Dávila Plascencia’s next destination was in the Canary Islands with Tenerife, an entity with which he lost rhythm, with just 502 minutes spread over ten matches and a goal.
The last stop before returning to Mexico was Vitoria Setubal in Portuguese football, a club he didn’t stand out with either, as he barely played 14 matches in a season and a half and didn’t see the door.
In the second half of the 2015-16 season, he returned to Liga BBVA MX with Santos Laguna, before leaving again in 2018 to be part of Indian football with Odisha and a year later with Wellington Phoenix in Australia.
Raúl Gudiño
In the 2014-15 season, the Guadalajara goalkeeper left Chivas Sub-20 for Porto B on loan for a year with a purchase option and took part in 16 matches.
A season later, the Blue Dragons stayed with the goalkeeper, who guarded the subsidiary’s door 22 times before being loaned out to Uniao Madeira.
On his return to Porto B, Gudiño completed the 2016-17 cycle with 26 starts and eight changes.
A campaign later, he was loaned out to Apoel Nicosia of Cyprus, a team with which he played two league matches and one Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund.
Since the 2018/19 season, Gudiño has been part of Chivas, a club in which he has also experienced ups and downs, alternating ownership with Antonio Rodríguez.
Jonathan Espericueta
The Monterrey midfielder was part of the Mexican under-17 national team that won the Specialty World Cup in 2011, but his career has fallen from then on.
After not seeing any action at Tigres from 2011 to 2013, Espericueta started 2014 on loan with Villarreal B, a team he played with in seven games, including only one as a starter.
The following campaign took just 25 minutes, split into two duels, and later returned to Tigres for a football cycle, without a helm in his football career.
Antonio Pedroza
Antonio ‘Rooney’ Pedroza, with a Mexican father and an English mother, made his debut with the extinct Jaguares de Chiapas in 2007 and remained in the team’s discipline until 2011, the year the Premier League knocked on him at the age of 21.
In the 2011-12 campaign, Crystal Palace used the services of Pedroza Whitham, who saw just 150 minutes of action spread over four games and didn’t score. The following year, he returned to Mexican football with Monarcas Morelia.
Antonio Briseño
With an earlier move by Atlas, Tigres, FC Juárez and Veracruz, the U-17 World Champion defender with Mexico in the 2011 World Cup left Liga BBVA MX at the age of 23 to try his luck in Portuguese football with Feirense.
In his first season, the jaliscience played 15 games, including ten as a starter and teamed up with two annotations, while the following season he established himself in the title in 34 games and also attended with two goals.
For the 2019-2020 cycle, the defender, who has repeatedly been part of the ideal elf of the day in Lusitanian football, heard the ‘song of the sirens’ and returned to Mexico to join Chivas, his current team .