Mexico star Lozano completes €42m move to Napoli

Jon Arnold

Mexico star Lozano completes €42m move to Napoli image

Napoli have completed the signing of Mexico international winger Hirving Lozano from PSV in a deal worth a reported €42 million (£38.5m/$47m).

Lozano's move from the 2018-19 Eredivisie runners-up had long been anticipated thanks to his standout showings with both club and country in the last two years.

He leaves Eindhoven having contributed 40 goals and 23 assists in 79 appearances and reportedly signed a five-year deal with his new club.

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Lozano has already started the season with PSV, though he picked up a knock against ADO Den Haag in his most recent Eredivisie outing that may yet rule him out of Napoli's Serie A opener against Fiorentina on August 24.

He joins Carlo Ancelotti's side with Napoli having looked to bolster their attack over the summer in a bid to close the gap to champions Juventus having finished 11 points adrift in second last term.

Lozano likely will slot into what could be a fearsome attacking trident with the 24-year-old on one side, captain Lorenzo Insigne on the other and Arkadiusz Milik up top. Veteran attacker Dries Mertens also remains in the ranks for the Partenopei.

Lozano, along with now former PSV team-mate Erick Gutierrez, began his career as a teenager for Pachuca and helped them to the 2016 Clausura crown, their sixth league title, and the 2016-17 Concacaf Champions League trophy.

That summer he moved to PSV, but not before his first major international tournament, with then-Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio naming "Chucky" in his Confederations Cup squad.

Lozano scored in Russia and did so again a year later at the World Cup, notching the lone goal in El Tri's tournament-opening triumph over reigning champions Germany.

He went onto start all four of Mexico's matches in Russia, and though he missed this summer's Gold Cup triumph with an injury, he is set to be the most important player for Tata Martino's team looking towards Qatar 2022.

Lozano will become the fifth Mexican to play in Serie A after Miguel Layun, Rafa Marquez, Hector Moreno and Carlos Salcedo.

 

 

Jon Arnold

Jon Arnold Photo

Jon Arnold covered the Mexico national team and Concacaf region in English for Goal until March 2020. His byline also has appeared in the Dallas Morning News, the New York Times Goal blog, FloFC and Pacific Standard. In addition to his written work, he serves as the Concacaf expert on the BBC's World Football Phone-In and has appeared on SiriusXMFC in English and Fox Deportes and Milenio in Spanish. Formerly based in Tijuana and currently living in Texas, Jon covered the 2018 World Cup, the 2015 Copa America, the 2016 Copa America Centenario and the last five Gold Cups.