GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The rumor mill rumbles on over which Chivas Guadalajara players will be heading north to join Chivas USA, but one player that won’t be doing so is Jesus Padilla.
The American forward will instead be moving to another of his former clubs, La Piedad, the Michoacán club announced in a statement on Tuesday.
A return north for a second spell at Chivas USA had been mooted in the Mexican press as a possibility for the San Jose, Calif., native. Padilla played in MLS for the Rojiblancos in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, notching 39 appearances in total and scoring seven goals.
Padilla featured in only seven league games last season for Chivas Guadalajara, after Dutch coach John van ’t Schip kept him at the club on return from his loan at La Piedad, where he had played the Apertura 2011 and Clausura 2012.
Padilla’s new club, the current Ascenso MX champions, will contest the promotion playoff to get into the Liga MX next May, although they would automatically go into the first division if they can win next year’s Clausura championship.
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America for MLSsoccer.com. Contact him at tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
