Mexico international Diego Lainez has joined Tigres on loan from Real Betis, the Liga MX club announced on Monday.
According to ESPN MX, the winger will arrive on loan from the LaLiga side, with an option for Tigres to buy his contract for $7 million.
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“I’ve known [Tigres president] Mauricio Culebro for a long time, the interest has always been there since I practically left for Europe and I’m very happy to have arrived,” Lainez said in Monterrey on Sunday, confirming the recent rumors that he was heading back to Mexico.
Lainez, 22, was considered one of the more promising products to emerge from Club America’s youth academy but failed to live up to his massive hype in Europe after signing for Betis for a reported €12m ($14m) in 2019.
After sporadic minutes and starts in Spain, the pacey wide man moved on loan to Portugal’s Braga last summer in the hopes of claiming vital playing time ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
But Lainez was left out of Mexico’s squad for Qatar in November after being unable to gain more than a single start in league play for Braga, ultimately leading to his exit from the club in January.
Before being acquired by Tigres, Lainez was rumored to have had interest from teams across Liga MX, MLS and Spain.
In more roster changes for Tigres, the club announced earlier this week that French star Florian Thauvin had been dropped from the squad. Reports indicated that in order to make room for Argentine goalscorer Nicolas Ibanez, Tigres needed to open up a foreign roster spot.
