Six years and six teams later, Herculez Gomez is finally coming back to MLS.
Toronto FC announced on Thursday that they have signed the veteran American striker from Mexican club Tijuana after acquiring his rights from Sporting Kansas City in exchange for allocation money. Gomez left Kansas City for Mexico after the 2009 season.
Per league and club policy, additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Gomez, age 33, has spent the last six seasons in Mexico, scoring 37 goals in Liga MX stints with Puebla, Pachuca, Estudiantes Tecos, Santos Laguna, Tijuana and Tigres. He most recently played for Puebla, scoring one goal in eight appearances to help the club avoid regulation while on loan from Tijuana.
He began his MLS career with the LA Galaxy, initially signing with the club in 2002. He played a smattering of games for LA in between various loan stints to minor league clubs (including the USL Seattle Sounders in 2003), eventually breaking out with the Galaxy first team in 2005. He scored 11 goals and notched two assists in 22 regular season games in 2005, scoring the game-winning goal in the US Open Cup final before helping the Galaxy to MLS Cup to complete the American double.
Gomez was traded to Colorado after the 2006 season, scoring six goals in 37 games with the Rapids before being sent to Kansas City in September 2008. He helped the then-Wizards qualify for the 2008 playoffs with a stoppage time winner in a late season match against San Jose. That would be his only goal for Kansas City, with the Las Vegas native leaving the club for Puebla following the 2009 season.
His career blossomed south of the border, with Gomez lighting up Liga MX to the tune of 10 goals in 15 games in his first season with Puebla. His performances were good enough to get him into the national team picture, with Gomez eventually earning a spot on the 2010 World Cup roster. He played three of the US’s four games in South Africa, and has six goals in 24 career appearances with the USMNT.
Gomez bounced around while in Mexico, moving from Puebla to Pachuca following the 2010 World Cup, then to Estudiantes Tecos in 2011 and Santos Laguna in December of that year. In addition to helping Santos to the Clausura 2012 title, Gomez also played a major role in their run to back-to-back CONCACAF Champions League finals, scoring three goals for the Torreon club in their 7-3 aggregate semifinal win against TFC in the semifinals of the 2011-12 competition.
Gomez moved to Tijuana in 2013, spending one full year with Tijuana before going out on loans to Tigres and Puebla. The only American player to win both an MLS Cup and a Liga MX title, Gomez has 23 goals in 124 career MLS regular season games.
