Chivas owner Vergara on Gago, ‘Chicharito’, Cade Cowell and the club’s ‘Mexican only’ policy

Amaury Vergara, 36-year-old president and owner of Chivas Guadalajara, explained in an interview with Fox Sports that new head coach Fernando Gago, was elected thanks to his enthusiasm shown to the club’s policy of only playing with Mexican natives by birth which has now expanded to foreign players born to Mexican parents.

Vergara stated: “I am looking for coaches, together with sporting director Fernando Hierro, coaches who know what they are coming for, what it means to be in Chivas, why is it different, why is it a unique team” he added.

He added that the recent acquisition of Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández was not in order to fulfill a nostalgic promise insisted that a player of the striker’s quality will serve Chivas well for the challenges that 2024 throws up with Liga MX, CONCACAF Champions and Leagues Cup competitions on the line.

“His presentation was not celebrating his past but what he can offer us in the future and I’m quietly confident that Javier is going to surprise us a lot. He’s in very good physical condition and making a great recovery from his injury,” he added.

Finally, the Chivas chief discussed what for many is a controversial reinforcement in Cade Cowell, who joined the team, without being Mexican born. Cowell is the first active US international to play for Chivas, who only field players from Mexico, however, dual-nationals with Mexican citizenship can feature for the club, and the young forward only became a Mexican citizen a couple weeks before his move to Chivas.

“Cade complies with the club’s guidelines, he is Mexican. I think people have received his signing with plenty of enthusiasm. I assure you that he will learn to speak Spanish and I have already seen him interacting with his teammates and he will win the affection of the fans. But on the pitch, no-one can doubt his immense level of quality”, he concluded.