Oribe Peralta makes controversial move from America to Chivas

Oribe Peralta has moved from Club America to their biggest rival Chivas. The move has been widely criticized from both sides because of the rivalry between both teams and the supposed disrespect to the rivalry by the move. Chivas fans have also criticized the fact that Oribe has been coming from injury-riddled seasons, and that at 35, he’s not a young player and might not be the answer to team’s problems when they will be fighting relegation.

Over the course of his career, Oribe Peralta has been one of Mexico’s best and most acclaimed players. Born in Torreon and having the best seasons with Santos, Peralta became a national hero after his goals gave Mexico the Gold medal in the 2012 Olympic games in the 2-1 victory over Brazil. Peralta then was key in the qualification to the 2014 World Cup with 5 goals in the playoffs against New Zealand. Later, Peralta went to the World Cup as a starter and scored a goal against Cameroon. He signed with America prior to the World Cup and won 2 titles with the team, the same number he won with Santos.

Lost in all the controversy is the fact that Peralta was born in Torreon and was a product of youth teams of the city, although not of Santos. Then his best moments were with Santos, including the 2012 Olympic games, the WC qualifiers and the World Cup. His time with America didn’t have as much success except for the 2015 Gold Cup. While he achieved a lot with America, he was a bigger key in Santos, where for example he famously scored 2 late goals against Tigres to get them into the finals. While there is no denying that he left his mark in America, the fact is his best moments were with Santos.

The criticism with Chivas fans about his age might be more valid, although he’s still a veteran that should liven up a Chivas team with severe offensive problems. With the attack relying on youngsters like Alexis Vega and Ronaldo Cisneros, a veteran like Oribe might help fill the role that Alan Pulido hasn’t been able to, mentoring the younger talent and helping them explode. Peralta also should have an offensive punch if healthy.

Chivas also has 2 things against them: the fact that they can only play Mexican players and that there are rumors they have severe money problems, and Peralta fills a need while taking these factors into account. While a lot of outrage came about because Chivas supposedly had spent millions on his transfer, it was apparently not true and he came with a very low price tag. Thus from an outside perspective, it definitely doesn’t seem to be that bad a move for the Guadalajara team.

The Peralta move kicked over a hornet’s nest. Peralta’‘s comments saying that he was going to the biggest club in Mexico didn’t help things. The move riled up America fans and was too transparent to convince Guadalajara fans. Still, if Peralta starts to produce with Chivas, fans will start to accept him and those America fans will never be happy with him again.