Mexican Soccer Is a "Golden Cage" for Its Players, Warns Alex Diego

Dinamo Zagreb inquired about Raul "Tala" Rangel over the summer. They heard the price Chivas put on him, and that was that. Roma did the same with Israel Reyes, the America defender: they called, asked around, and pulled back once the two sides couldn't agree on a number. Two different stories, same ending. And that ending has a name that the Mexico U-20 head coach himself put on the table.

Alex Diego summed it up bluntly: Mexican soccer has turned into a "golden cage" for its own players. It sounds harsh, but the explanation makes sense both in soccer terms and in economic ones.

They've probably come asking about a lot of players, ones we never even hear about, but once the price gets mentioned, they don't follow through anymore. Of course it's a golden cage, it can be a golden cage. The Mexican player is comfortable, he's doing well with his family, that's not a bad thing either. It's a comfort zone where I think that if the price came down, more players could go to Europe.Alex Diego

Here's the uncomfortable part: after one of Mexico's best recent World Cup showings, a wave of departures to Europe was expected in the last transfer window. In the end, only Armando "Hormiga" Gonzalez and Patricio Salas crossed the Atlantic, and even Salas wasn't really on the national team's radar to begin with. Out of a squad with real international upside, just two names made the move.

The Price, the Climate and the Food

Diego doesn't put all the blame on money. He also points to adaptation: food, climate, routines that a player already has settled in Mexico and has to learn from scratch abroad. But he insists the overpricing weighs more than it might seem.

There are different reasons. Part of it is on the player, knowing how to adapt to different countries, things like the food and the climate, things he can't control and doesn't have to deal with in Mexico. Then there's the price. The overpricing is part of what keeps a young player from going to Europe at an early age, because clubs price them too high. European clubs have plenty of good-quality players on their radar, and they're not going to pay those prices.Alex Diego

Then there's the case of Erik Lira, who was set to leave and had the move fall through over an administrative issue: the destination club couldn't open up its slot for a community player. For Diego it was simply bad luck, because the midfielder had already earned that step up with his level of play on the field.

The Names Still to Come

The list of pending moves remains open. Hugo Camberos and Santi Sandoval, both of Chivas and developed under Diego's own watch during the Concacaf pre-World Cup qualifiers, have been on Europe's radar for weeks now, though still without a formal offer to get things moving.

Yes, of course, they're in that process. Why not go to Europe and show what they can do, no doubt about it.Alex Diego

And there's one more name that's generating excitement ahead of next year's U-20 World Cup: Gilberto Mora, of Xolos de Tijuana. Diego has already spoken with Andres Lillini to request his release, though his availability will depend both on his club granting permission and on a possible transfer to Europe that, based on everything we've seen, doesn't always come down to the player's talent alone.