América bringing in reinforcements - but attracting problems
As André Jardine strengthens his roster for the remainder of the Clausura 2026 tournament, the América boss faces a selection headache.
Amid the departures of Álvaro Fidalgo, Allan Saint‑Maximin and Rodrigo Aguirre, things have begun to click inside Coapa. Club América has rattled off three straight wins and officially announced the signing of Raphael Veiga. At the same time, word around the club is that they’re close to adding two more reinforcements from Brazil, in the shape on Vinicius de Lima and Gabriel Fuentes - moves already being welcomed by the América faithful, who are eager to see the team contend for everything that slipped away last year.
However, André Jardine has another issue to address over the remaining 12 matchdays of the Clausura 2026 regular season: the league’s mandatory youth‑minutes rule. At the moment, América sits dead last in the entire Liga MX in that department.
América falling behind
Through five matchdays, América has only used two players who qualify for the rule: Ramón Juárez and Patricio Salas. Between them, they’ve logged just 145 minutes - the fewest of any of Liga MX’s 18 clubs. They still need to rack up 1,025 minutes to meet the requirement. That means that over the remaining 12 matches, the team will need to average roughly 85 youth‑eligible minutes per game.
Sooner or later, Jardine will have no choice but to give Juárez and Salas significantly more playing time. He’ll likely also need to rely on other young players who regularly appear in matchday squads and qualify for the rule - players such as Aarón Mejía, Miguel Vázquez, or academy prospects like Diego Reyes.
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