By @pbsportswriter
MINO RAIOLA’s phone is about to start ringing. Mexico are out of
the World Cup and Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano is in demand.
Everton are among those who covet him, but Lozano’s father says
there has also been contact with Barcelona, and Spanish sources confirm this.
Whoever gets him, and it’s not a two-way fight as there are
plenty of other clubs watching him with interest, would appear to be getting a
gem.
But what do those in Mexico who have watched him take his every step in football think he should do, and just how good is he?
Alonso Cabral of Televisa Deportes says: “I think he’s perfect
for the Premier League because he’s very fast and he doesn’t get frightened by
big defenders.
“Big defenders hit him and foul him and he goes back and he
tries it again. He doesn’t back down.
“I see him as a little bit like Luis Suarez. He doesn’t have the
same goal threat. But he is very persistent.”
High praise, and that persistence has certainly been on show in
Russia. Lozano scored what he called “the best goal of my entire life” against
Germany and terrorised their ageing back four.
But just as impressive was the way he tracked back to help his
full back, made tackles, and tried to block crosses. I don’t think he stopped
moving once during the whole match.
South Korea clearly targeted him as the Mexican danger man after
that, with full back Lee Yong twice hitting him hard with late fouls in the
opening few minutes.
Lozano barely blinked. And while he wasn’t quite as explosive
going forward in that game, he was there with a vital block inside his own area
when it mattered, after sprinting back to help out.
He showed flashes of brilliance too, beating three
men on one powerful run before blazing over the crossbar, and later had a
decent shot blocked.
Brazil was always going to be a bigger challenge. But while he
failed to help his team find a breakthrough, he was still at the heart of
everything, attacking space and taking on defenders.
Twice he found himself in a great position on the overlap only
to be ignored by his team-mates, who opted for a wasteful shot from long range.
So he’s shown some talent, and with a goal and assist in four
games in Russia to add to 17 goals and 11 assists in the Dutch league for PSV
Eindhoven last season, you can see why Barca came calling.
But is he ready for a step up like that, or would he be better
suited to a club like Everton, where he would surely get much more playing
time?
ESPN
reporter Herculez Gomez said: “He's 22. The prime age to make a jump. But Barcelona?
It’s a very big jump. You’ve got to play.
"You’ve
got to be somewhere you can actually see yourself playing games. Do you really
see that happening at Barca?
“But this
is just how it started with Chicharito. Out of nowhere, he was suddenly linked
to Man Utd and within days the deal was announced.
“If he was
from Brazil or Argentina he would be valued in the £70m bracket.”
If he does leave PSV, and there are those in Holland who swear
he has promised them one more year, whoever gets him will be getting a bargain,
because he won’t command that sort of fee.
Alan Nunez, director of Vavel Mexico, said: “I think that a move to the Premier League is more likely but he has the level to grow up as a player in a bigger team.
“I think that the speed at which he can conduct the ball and how many one on one opportunities he can capitalize is tremendous.
“I think that because of his nature, counter attacking teams right now would suit him more. But he definitely has the capacity to improve as a player on a positional game style.
“Off the pitch he's really shy. He's always with his family and he's not that into big commercials. It's just now that we have seen some commercials of him with Nike, specially.”
All that would seem to make him a better fit for Everton under Marco Silva, who plays the kind of lightning-quick counter-attacking 4-3-3 system Lozano thrives in, rather than Barcelona.
But whatever he decides, his team-mates are convinced he is ready for the next step in his career, and that it will not change him one little bit.
Mexico midfielder Andres Guardado, who was the revelation
for El Tri as a teenager at the 2006 World Cup, said: “He's the same kid
I met the first time he came with us.
"It makes me very proud to say he
is a kid that is very centred, despite everything he is going through. He is
conscious that he has to continue like he has because he's not achieved
anything.
"Hopefully he stays like that and
the rumours about a possible transfer to a big team become reality. It would be
marvellous, he's a great teammate."
ends
