LIGA MX
Rayados place formal offer for Gerardo Arteaga
The Mexican full-back is one of the most sought-after players in the January window. After being linked to América, now Monterrey are attempting to lure him back.
Another Mexican player could be about to return from Europe. Rayados are hoping to persuade Zapopan-born Gerardo Arteaga, who plays for Genk in the Belgian Pro League, to come home. Monterrey are believed to have offered a fee of close to $6.5 million for the player. However, the European club is holding out for a figure of around $8 million.
Fernando Ortiz’s side have already brought two reinforcements in - Jorge Corcho Rodríguez and Brandon Vázquez. If Arteaga arrives, he will likely be the final reinforcement ahead of the Clausura 2024, which Rayados start at home to Puebla on 13 January. Club directors have been calmly negotiating with Genk for the Mexican defender and and are hopeful of signing him in time for the start of the new Liga MX campaign.
Arteaga is a left-back who came through Santos Laguna’s youth system. He made his senior debut in 2016 - the first of 89 appearances for the club before he left to join Genk in 2020 on a 3.5 million euro deal. This season, he has played 13 out of a possible 20 games in the Belgian Pro League, making 11 starts with a total of 1035 minutes of playing time. He came on as a second half sub in the second leg of the Champions League Round Two tie in which his team was eliminated by Servette in the penalty shootout.
He has also taken part in the team’s other European campaigns - playing the full 90 minutes in four Conference League group games and a brief 19 minute appearance in this season’s Europa League. At international level with Mexico, he has been called up twice by Jaime Lozano in the recent FIFA dates but was only used once - in the 2-0 win over Ghana in October.