Who is Ajax target Diego Lainez? Club America's teenage sensation set for European move

Jon Arnold

Who is Ajax target Diego Lainez? Club America's teenage sensation set for European move image

Diego Lainez is heading to Europe in the near future. That much seems certain.

Club America sporting director Santiago Banos said Tuesday that the player is close to a move  and made it clear that the Liga MX side would not be standing in his way. 

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The 18-year-old followed up on that the next day.

"It's my dream," he told RadioMarca Claro   of moving to a European league. "That's what the directors are looking at. My dream is very close. Hopefully it comes together."

What will Ajax - or the other two European clubs Banos said are in the race to sign the 18-year-old - be getting if they sign Lainez? Will he be like Hirving Lozano and hit the ground running in Europe?

In contrast to Lozano, we've yet to see a full body of work from Lainez. His league debut came when he was just 16, quite literally by accident. America manager Ricardo La Volpe is used to giving minutes to young players and was looking to hand Costa Rican U-20 Gerson Torres some playing time in March of 2017 against Cruz Azul. He soon found out that Torres hadn't been registered with the senior team for that tournament and had to press Lainez into starting duty.  

Since then, he's been used sporadically by La Volpe and Miguel Herrera, his successor at America. The flashes he showed in 2018 with America, in his first two games with the Mexico senior national team and with youth national teams at both the Concacaf U-20 Championship and in the summer at the Toulon Tournament, have been enough for plenty to hype up Lainez as the long-awaited Mexican Messi. 

Lionel Messi has been an inspiration to hundreds of rising stars, and the number of players who look to imitate his playing style must be in the tens of thousands. Yet with Lainez, you actually can see the influence. It goes beyond simply being creative, small and left-footed.  

Diego Lainez

"I really identify with him," Lainez told  Goal  in 2016. "I really like his style of play, and I try to learn from him and do some of the things he does. I look to take players on a lot, play a lot of one-twos, but I also like to shoot from distance. 

"I can play behind the No. 9 or as a midfielder. Whatever is needed, I do it, and I can use both feet very well." 

It's an accurate self-assessment of his profile, and part of the reason that the specific club he goes to in Europe may be so critical to his future success. It's tough to see him on the same field with Frenkie De Jong at Ajax but perhaps could be allowed to roam free if the Dutch talent moves on to Barcelona or Manchester City. Lainez needs to find the right fit, and a place where he can get regular minutes. Even with America his playing time has not been regular. 

Lainez also will need to become a more physical player, though that will come with age and getting into a strength program at a top European club. Improving tracking back, getting more comfortable using his body and going against players bigger and tougher than him and fine-tuning a shot that is yet to yield an amazing goal haul will be the top priorities once Lainez does move on. 

Diego Lainez Matt Miazga

Essentially, the ceiling for Lainez is incredibly high. There is plenty of hype in Mexico that he's missing out on some of the issues that have dogged rising Mexican stars for so long if he leaves now rather than sticking around Mexico City for another tournament or even another year. It's a trail blazed by Jesus "Tecatito" Corona, who pushed out of Monterrey at a young age, fought for a starting place in the Netherlands and now is starting with Porto in the Champions League. 

Despite the success of Corona and Lozano, there's no guarantee Lainez is on the path to stardom. Other America players who recently made the jump have struggled to find a place to call home, like Diego Reyes, or been late bloomers like Raul Jimenez. A move sooner than normal for a Mexican player would only allow Lainez to carve out a path as quickly as possible. 

His move to Europe should be seen as good news for Mexico national team fans, even if they never got to see his best up close with America. Lainez could leave a Liga MX champion and begin his journey to becoming an El Tri star.  

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.