How much will Cruz Azul lose from selling Moisés Vieira back to Brazilian club Fortaleza?

Everyone connected with Cruz Azul was hugely excited by the signing of Moisés Vieira ahead of the Liga MX Apertura 2023 tournament. The Brazilian attacker had impressed with Fortaleza in his homeland and was seen as the kind of player who could make a difference in the final third. However, the 27-year-old flattered to deceive, scoring just once in 17 league games, only nine of which he was chosen to start. He also failed to make an impact in the Leagues Cup, in which La Máquina were eliminated in the round of 32.

How much did La Máquina pay for Moisés? What will they get back?

For whatever reason, few Brazilians have succeeded at Cruz Azul, perhaps with the exception of Carlos Eloir Perucci in the 1980s, Pintado in the 1990s and Julio César Pinheiro, who was part of the team that reached the Copa Libertadores final in 2001. Moisés now looks set to leave the club just a matter of months after joining.

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The good for La Máquina is that, despite his disappointing spell, it looks as if they will almost get back what they paid for the player. The Mexico City-based side signed Moisés for $4.5 million on 1 July and are now set to sell him back to Fortaleza for $4.3 million.

Cruz Azul set to make a profit on Castaño

In recent times, Cruz Azul have often been forced to offload players on the cheap or accept relatively low offers from buying clubs, but this time they will not be left too far out of pocket. Similarly, Kevin Castaño, who also joined Los Celestes in the summer of 2023 for $3.7 million, looks likely to sign for Russian side Krasnodar for $7 million.

La Máquina endured an Apertura 2023 tournament to forget, finishing 16th of out 18 in the league phase after losing 10 of their 17 fixtures, more than any other team. Some big changes have already been made at the club ahead of Clausura 2024, with Argentine Martín Anselmi appointed new head coach.