César Montes arrives in Barcelona to complete Espanyol switch

Shortly after 2:30 p.m. local time, César Montes appeared in the arrivals lounge at El Prat airport’s Terminal 1. Clearly tired after a long flight (his flight left Mexico City late on Monday) but happy to fulfill his dream to play in Europe. “I’m happy and excited, this is a dream come true for me,” said the player upon arrival: “It’s worth the sacrifice because I’m here now and everything is going to be exciting from now on. I’m not afraid of playing in Europe, it’s a challenge and it’s what I have wanted to do since I was a boy. I come to compete for a place in the side and we will how the coach responds towards me”.

The 25-year-old centre-back, an international with Mexico who was present at the recent World Cup in Qatar, wants to follow in the footsteps of his all-time idol, Rafa Márquez, and will wear the blue and white shirt just like his maestro, Héctor Moreno, a team mate in defense both in Monterrey and with El Tri: “I know all about the club thanks to Moreno, I know it’s an historic club,” the defender added.

According to a well-known retired Mexican player, Montes or The Pup as he is nicknamed, “has the qualities to be the future captain of Mexico’s national team”.

Montes made his debut at the age of 18 in the Mexican top flight. Since he has grown into one of the few players who have made the leap to Europe, but his story begins much earlier, as a recent ESPN report detailled. The central, standing at a towering 1.98m, began playing baseball in his town of Hermosillo, capital of the state of Sonora, where the sport is more popular than soccer. He lived almost right next door to the baseball stadium, which was just three blocks away, so it was easy for him to get immersed in the sport. But at the same time, his brother Jorge, whom he went to see on weekends, also began to awaken his passion for soccer. For several years, Montes was combining both activities until he opted for soccer. He wanted to be like his hero, Rafa Márquez.

After starting out with Pumas, at the age of 17 he joined Monterrey to complete his development and by the time he was 18, he was already used to playing in the Mexican League. He was an Under-20 international and before long, a member of the senior side. He has won one Mexican League, two Cups and two Concacaf Champions Leagues. While his passing game is his main virtue, he was the player to score the first goal at Estadio BBVA Bancomer, so in some ways, he will go down in history just in the same way as Ben Sahar did at Espanyol by being the first goal scorer at RCDE stadium back in 2009.

“As a young man, he already pointed out that he would go to Europe, but the same thing is happening with him as what happened with the great talents in Mexico. Clubs pay them a lot of money to keep them,” said a former Mexican soccer coach. “He is a tall central defender, who dominates the passing game and handles the ball quite well without being super classy. You can play in a dominant team and in another that defends low. He is tall but fast, he is very competitive and an excellent decision maker. Even as a young player, he was a starter in one of the best teams in Mexico and has edged out veteran stars”, he added.

Some details of Montes’ transfer, which was delayed from September, still have to be clarified. Among them are the conditions of the contract concerning a future transfer, since Monterrey assures AS that Espanyol are obliged to purchase the player for seven million in June and there are no variables that depend on Espanyol’s permanence in LaLiga. The footballer, who is married and has a one-year-old daughter, will undergo a medical examination between this afternoon and tomorrow Espanyol’s idea is to present him on Thursday.