Report: Tigres have 4 new players committed for next season

According to Multimedios Deportes commentator Willie González, Tigres have already signed four new players to their roster for the upcoming Apertura 2021 season. He of course failed to mention any of them at the moment, but made extremely clear his sources close to the club have confirmed this story. He made news Friday morning after Tigres player Jesús Dueñas had this to say to the media: “We can’t even give away a draw, we’re going for all three points vs. Querétaro and América because we know what we’re playing for; the season and even our contracts. We’re going for it all to turn this around and be talking about the playoffs in a month.” In other words, they’re worried they could be sacrificed in favor of the new guys.

After suffering a quick playoff exit last season, Tigres currently march 14th overall in the league table (3W, 3D, 5L), with just five rounds left and a game in hand. In other words, if the season ended today, they would miss the playoffs entirely, despite the generous 12 Liga MX playoff spots. Since returning from their Club WC performance in Qatar, they’ve been unable to pick it up and have begun to worry fans, especially considering their recent inability to overcome clubs like San Luis and Puebla, coupled with losses to Mazatlán and Pachuca. Ferretti is really being questioned regarding whether he’s the right man at the helm, along with a few players who appear to have peaked.

For all those fans wanting changes, their prayers could’ve been answered. González assured everyone he has heard from realiable sources that the yellow and blue have committed four new players to the club’s roster for the upcoming season, and gave some indication as to who the replaced players would be. “Apart from Julián Quiñones, whom I believe we all agree can (motions hand to get out), who would be the other three Tigres that you’d leave out? I heard Aquino, I heard Guido Pizarro, I heard... who? Nahuel? Nahh...” He followed that with a laugh. He surely doesn’t believe all four of those would be the chosen ones, but the lone fact he dared to mention their names could mean at least one or two of them could get the axe come next offseason.

However, this is especially hard to believe while Tuca is in charge. If they were to have a coaching change for any reason, then it might seem plausible, but considering Ferretti’s stubbornness with some players (both on the pitch and on the bench), I’m reluctant to buy into those last three players leaving the club unless they requested it. To me, it seems much more reasonable that players such as Leo Fernández and Nico López would be the leading candidates to leave the club (unfortunately). Neither of them have gotten their fair shake with Ferretti and have therefore been unable to gain rhythm and prove their true potential.

Whether Wille González is saying the truth or not, we won’t know it for a few more weeks. What I will tell you is this; if Tigres fail to make the playoffs or the Final for that matter, that would now be two consecutive extremely underachieving seasons. You’re talking about one of the top 5 most expensive clubs in the country. Any finish other than the Final is unacceptable. If that happened, the rumors of Tuca losing his mojo and this team’s aging backbone could start to become a reality. They have a month (6 games) to remember the elite level they can play at and see if some of these players can make their case to remain at the club, as the current results simply will not do.