Pumas officially announced their three main signings for the Clausura 2024 season. Rogelio Funes Mori, Guillermo Martinez, and Peruvian international Piero Quispe are the additions who will try to fix holes left by a number of departures under new coach Gustavo Lema.
With forwards Juan Ignacio Dinenno and Gabriel Fernández leaving the team, Pumas needed help up top and they have gotten some in a hefty way with last season’s top Mexican goalscorer Guillermo Martínez and Mexican international Rogelio Funes Mori, who was part of the 2022 World Cup Mexican squad. Funes Mori is a historic player for Monterrey as he became the all-time goalscorer for the club.
Funes Mori won a Liga MX title, two Copa MX titles, and two CONCACAF Champions Leagues, but his time with Rayados seemed to be over. While it appeared he was headed to Brazil, talks with Lema meant that for the first time since coming to Mexico, Funes Mori would play in another club that wasn’t Rayados.
While Funes Mori’s performance in Monterrey seeming to be in decline, Guillermo Martínez had a career season at Puebla. He was one goal shine of tying Harold Preciado as the top scorer in Liga MX, but was the top Mexican scorer of the Apertura 2023 (Preciado is Colombian). Martínez’s season led to him getting a cap with the National Team where he would score in a 3-2 loss against Colombia. The Martínez signing is a huge get and along with Funes Mori, should be great bets to replace their departed forward duo of Gabriel Fernández and Juan Ignacio Dinenno.
From Universitario in Peru, Piero Quispe arrives to Mexican football with Pumas as well. Quispe arrives after winning the league title in a season where he won the player of the year award. Although the arrival of Peruvian players is rare in Mexico, there have been some notable cases, one of the more famous with Pumas when Juan Jose Muñante had a great spell there from 1976-1980.
With Pumas receiving a hefty transfer fee after Cruz Azul bought Gabriel Fernández and Juan Ignacio Dinenno leaving to Brazil to join coach Nicolás Larcamón in Cruzeiro, Pumas had a tough task to replace them. Yet Pumas seem to have done well, considering new manager Lema will have a historic veteran and a red hot striker with Funes Mori and Martínez. With a young Peruvian prospect rounding things up, Pumas might’ve had one of their better offseasons in a while.
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