He vanished from the Pumas call-up list… and the MLS was waiting

José Caicedo’s time with Pumas has come to an end. The midfielder was not included by Efraín Juárez for the trip to face Necaxa in Aguascalientes after receiving approval from the club to leave Liga MX and continue his career in Major League Soccer, where he is set to sign following a period of limited playing time with the university side.

Pumas are trying to rebound from a midweek defeat to Toluca at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, and the coaching staff traveled with what it considers its strongest available squad. However, Caicedo was not part of the call-up at all – not even on the bench – signaling that his departure was already underway.

What happened between Caicedo and the Pumas front office?

The player received an offer to move to MLS after seeing his minutes shrink drastically with Pumas. Juárez was open to the transfer, but the club’s front office initially resisted letting him go and delayed negotiations for as long as possible.

According to journalist César Luis Merlo, the leadership group headed by Antonio Sancho ultimately accepted an offer from the Portland Timbers for the midfielder, despite earlier attempts to block his exit just before the team’s road game against Necaxa.

Portland is offering Caicedo a four-year contract. The player has already reached a verbal agreement, and the move only required the clubs to finalize terms – something Juárez had approved even before Sancho made the final decision.

Frozen out by Juárez during Clausura 2026

During the Clausura 2026 tournament, Caicedo had almost no role under Juárez. He appeared in just three games, totaling 39 minutes of action.

That marks a dramatic drop compared with the previous tournament, when the midfielder played 14 games and accumulated 1,154 minutes, while also featuring in the Concacaf Champions Cup and the play-in round against Pachuca.

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