Erik Lira returns to training after Monaco move falls through

Hood up and clearly in no mood for pleasantries, Erik Lira arrived at La Noria at 7:35 in the morning. He walked right past a couple of fans asking for a photo and an autograph. He wasn't in the mood. Just days earlier he'd gone through the tensest stretch of his recent career: a move to Monaco had collapsed right before the European transfer window closed, and the toll it took was still written on his face.

Cruz Azul's front office understood the midfielder needed some time away. They talked to him, gauged how much the emotional wear of the past several days had taken out of him, and gave him three days off to put himself back together. That break is now over: Lira returned to training this Friday and is once again available to Joel Huiqui, La Maquina's head coach.

Is three days enough to shake off a setback like that? Hard to say from the outside, but at least the player is back training with the rest of the squad, which is the first step toward feeling like part of the team again.

Sunday's doubt against Santos

What's still unresolved is whether Lira will be available for Sunday's match against Santos at Estadio Banorte. The player was absent all week because of the frustrated transfer and the days off he was granted, so whether he gets the call is a decision the coaching staff will make sometime between today and tomorrow, essentially right up to the wire.

Meanwhile, Cruz Azul's front office hasn't been sitting still. Although Mexico's transfer window has already closed, some leagues still have their markets open, and that's where the club is still working the phones trying to grant Lira his wish of testing himself in Europe. Portugal, the Netherlands and Russia stand out as destinations where there's still room to negotiate a move before those windows shut.

For Cruz Azul, Lira remains an important piece and also a valuable asset on the market. His contract runs through 2029, so there's no institutional rush to sell him unless an offer comes in that satisfies both sides. In fact, if no move materializes this time either, the plan is to wait and try again in the next window, in December.

For now, the focus is on the immediate picture: getting Lira back up to speed on the field, making sure the locker room welcomes him back well after the episode, and letting Huiqui decide whether to put him back in the rotation this weekend. Everything else, the European future, will have to wait a few more weeks.