Official: Santos Laguna’s Santiago Muñoz loaned to Newcastle United

Santos Laguna confirmed that forward Santiago Muñoz has been loaned to Newcastle United of the English Premier League. Santos announced Muñoz is “on an 18-month loan for an undisclosed fee with an option to buy.”

Born in El Paso, Texas, Muñoz has been one of the brightest stars to come through Santos’ academy in a while, and had reportedly garnered interest from Belgium. 19 year old Muñoz played 19 games with Santos’ first team, including their run to the Liga MX Final last season, scoring three goals and getting callups to México’s U17 and U20 national teams. Muñoz had however been frozen out of the club’s first team this season due to the push to join a European club. While registered with Santos’ U20s, he did not make a single appearance with any squad.

Still, Muñoz is a very promising forward and will follow Gerardo Arteaga, Nestor Araujo, and Uriel Antuna as players developed at Santos that moved on to European teams. “I owe Santos a lot, (the club) helped me achieve my dream,” said Muñoz via the Santos press release. “My heart will remain here, in La Laguna, and wherever I go I will be a Guerrero (Warrior).”