Ángel Zaldivar bids Chivas goodbye
The striker failed to convince coach Veljko Paunovic to keep him on and moves on joining Atlético de San Luis.
On Monday, Chivas’ board of directors announced the departure of one of the most questioned players by fans recently. Ángel Zaldívar didn’t report in with Club Deportivo Guadalajara after the Christmas break. Now, he is set to join the fourth club of his career - Atlético de San Luis.
Zaldivar was one of the Rojiblancos fans “favorite villains”. Some time ago, the boos started up against him and that vocal discontentment never went away. Even in the recent Sky Cup matches, “Chelo” was whistled by his own supporters as he entered the pitch at Jalisco Stadium.
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Now, he will embark on a new adventure, with the San Luis Potosí-based side. A product of Chivas’ youth team, Zaldivar left the club on two other occasions - in two separate loan spells with Monterrey and Puebla. In neither, did he manage to make his mark - a lack of goals made it difficult for him to stay on at either so he ended up returning.
This time however, his departure was expected since Ricardo Peláez took over as sports director at Guadalajara. Ángel Zaldívar was one of the main candidates to leave the club. With Fernando Hierro’s arrival along with Serbian coach, Veljko Paunovic, “Chelo” perhaps might have had a new opportunity to show himself, and earn his place...
However, he was unable to fully convince the coach, who asked the club to strengthen the forward position, pending José Juan Macías’ expected return in the New Year. Macías could hold down the position once he is fully over the knee ligament injury that forced him to miss the last Apertura 2022. For that reason, Chivas went to the market in search of a striker.
The signing of Daniel Ríos, announced on Sunday, made the outlook clearer. And just one day later, Ángel Zaldívar ceased to be a Guadalajara player. The forward is already in the city of San Luis Potosí, where he reported with his new team, in which he will try to better his goal scoring figures - something that he has been unable to do until now.
“Very happy to finally be here. There had been interest for a long time and it finally came to fruition. We are here with great encouragement, with all the desire to be able to contribute. They spoke with the board of directors (of Chivas) and the decision was made both for them and for me to leave so that I could come here,” said “Chelo” when he arrived at Atlético de San Luis’ training facilities.