Jesus Corona known as Tecatito is one of the top Mexican defenders in Europe, since 2013 he established a path of victories and multiple awards playing for Twente, Porto and recently for La Liga’s side Sevilla.

Mexico needs experienced players like Jesus Corona above all to contain the rival attack during the 2023 Gold Cup group stage where the underdogs are doing everything possible to go far within the tournament.

The first time Corona played with Mexico’s national team was in 2014, since then he has a little more than 70+ appearances and 10 goals, despite not being a frequent player he is one of the most experienced defenders.

Why wasn’t Jesus Corona called up to play in the 2023 Gold Cup?

Jesus Corona was part of a previous list of called up players for the 2023 Gold Cup but in the end it was not beneficial for him since Tecatito was recovering from an injury suffered in 2022, his current team Sevilla asked the then manager Diego Cocca to not call him up for the tournaments with the national team.

Corona suffered an injury during a training season with Sevilla in 2022 and due to that injury he could not even play for Mexico in what was the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but despite the fact that he was already recovered in 2023 that did not guarantee him power play for Mexico.

The last time he was called up to play for Mexico was during the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League but in that tournament he didn’t play a single minute either.

Currently, Gerardo Martino and the Mexican National Team have a low number of their players playing in Europe’s top leagues. There are Mexicans in Italy, Spain, and England. However, not all of them have earned the chance to play week in and week out.

Looking ahead to Qatar 2022, there is no Mexican player in Europe who stands out from the rest of his compatriots. Raúl Jimenez has not been able to return to the level he had before his skull injury and Hirving Lozano has suffered from various injuries that have taken away his rhythm. Andres Guardado is at the end of his career and Hector Herrera has just said goodbye to Atletico Madrid as he will emigrate to MLS.

Mexican soccer player in the sights of Bayer Leverkusen in Germany

While Bayer Leverkusen’s 2021-2022 season did not include any titles, finishing third in the Bundesliga, one of the best leagues in the world, is a significant achievement. Thus, Leverkusen is an interesting destination for any Mexican looking to emigrate to Europe. However, its coach, Gerardo Seoane, has already expressed which player from El Tri he would like to sign. The lucky one plays in Spain’s LaLiga.

“We look a lot at foreign players. We like players with an offensive profile, fast players. There is a very good Mexican who plays in Spain and I would like to see him in our ranks, but there is a lot of competition“, stated Seoane in a press conference prior to a friendly match Bayer Leverkusen is having in Mexico against Club Toluca.

Following the profile of the Mexican that Seone would like to sign for Bayer Leverkusen, the options are limited to Jesus Corona of Sevilla, Orbelín Pineda of Celta Vigo and Diego Lainez of Betis. All are players who stand out for their speed and skill, although Pinedaplays much more in midfield and Lainez and Corona play on the flanks.

However, all indications are that it is Diego Lainez who could be on Bayer Leverkusen’s wish list for next season. According to ESPN Mexico, when Betis and Leverkusen met in October 2021 in the Europa League, Lainez caught Seoane’s attention and there was a rapprochement between the two sides, but nothing materialized.

Mexican players who have played for Bayer Leverkusen

The relationship between Bayer Leverkusen and the Mexican players has already had a few chapters written in the past. Specifically, there are two. It all started when in January 2014, Andres Guardado, now a Betis player, and teammate and mentor of Diego Lainez, played 6 months with Leverkusen, without much success.

The other Mexican who wore the Bayer shirt left a very pleasant sensation. That was Chicharito Hernandez, now playing for the LA Galaxy, who won over the Leverkusen fans with his goals. In two seasons, Hernandez played 76 games and scored 39 goals. Very decent records.

The Mexican star is entering the final year of his contract with Porto, sothe team would be willing to sellhim before the summer transfer window closes and to avoid losing him for free in a few months.

If not, Corona could negotiate for a pre-contract agreement already in January. Besides, Porto aren’t facing an ideal financial situation, being hit by the pandemic consequences, and these two sides have already shown interest in him:

Sevilla

The Spanish club has been heavily linked with a move for Tecatito Corona over the last few weeks. According to ESPN, Sevilla would consider making a €13 million bid ($15.2 million) for the Mexican right midfield.

But the problem is that Porto would only receive the 66.6% of that value for Corona, while the remaining 33.4% would go to Dutch club Twente. The Portuguese side, however, wants to receive $15.2 million, forcing Sevilla to pay around another $7.6 million to Twente – but they wouldn’t be willing to do that. So we’ll have to wait and see how this situation unfolds.

AC Milan

While Sevilla seemed to be close to securing Corona, they might want to hurry up before other teams join the queue. AC Milan have been in contactwith Porto to ask about Tecatito‘s situation, according to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo.

The Italian club is still looking for a replacement to Hakan Calhanoglu, who was transferred to lifelong rivals Inter Milan this summer. But unless Milan change their minds and get ready to offer more than €10 million, they wouldn’t get him.

At the moment, Gerardo Martino can rely on a significant amount of players that perform in Europe, which is considered to involve the best teams and footballers in the world. Well, Mexico have some of their own featuring in that level.

El Tricolor arguably is the most powerful side in the region at the moment, and that’s partly because ofhaving a bunch of their players taking part in Europe’s prime competitions. Here, check out the best Mexican players in those teams.

Andrés Guardado -(Real Betis)

To begin with, we start with the iconic midfielder and captain from El Tricolor. One of the most experienced in thesquad, Guardado has been afigureof the Mexico national team for a long time due to his leadership skills and the talent that enabled him to perform in Europe since 2007.

He amassed 143 games playing for Deportivo La Coruna before moving to Valencia, then had a short spell in Bayer Leverkusen, and after that PSV signed him. Guardado is currently playing his fourth season for Real Betis, where he earned an important place as well with his experience.

The 34-year-old played a huge part for El Tricolor in his career. He took part in four FIFA World Cups – 2006, 2010,2014, and 2018 – and lifted three Concacaf Gold Cup trophies. Guardado is the second player with most appearances for Mexico with 163 games, below Claudio Suárez who has 177.

Hirving Lozano – (Napoli)

‘Chucky’ Lozano is probably the most exciting Mexican player at the moment. It didn’t take too long for him to jump intoprofessional soccer, as he made his first appearance at Pachuca with only 18 years of age. Almost four years later, PSV signed him.

Lozano was up to the challenge with the Dutch side, being the team’s leading goalscorer in his two-year stint. Napoli meant another huge step in his career, in the most expensive transfer in history for a Mexican player – tied with Raúl Jiménez. And he didn’t let the Italians down, as he madehis way to being recognized as one of the best wingers in Serie A.

With El Tricolor, he took part in the 2018 World Cup, in which his goal against Germany in the first gamecleared the path for Mexico to progress to the following stage.

Diego Lainez – (Real Betis)

Lainez is a young, promising talent that Real Betis have in their squad withhigh hopes for his future. The 20-year-old is expected to be one of the greatest players, not only forMexico but in the world as well, as overthe last yearsmany newspapers ranked him among the best youth talents.

He already was called up for Mexico’s senior squad playing a part in International Friendlies. Lainezstill is developing as a soccer player onthe big stage, but he has a bright future ahead.

Raúl Jiménez – (Wolverhampton)

The Wolverhampton striker earned recognition as one of the best offensive players in the entire Premier League. He is, alongside the likes of Lozano and Guardado, one of the greatestMexican players at the moment.

Atlético de Madrid were the first oneto bring him to Europeafter he became unstoppable in Liga MX playing for América. Even though that move didn’t turn out well, from then on Jiménez wentonrisingin soccer’s elite level. He bounced back in Benfica, before making a permanent move to Wolverhampton. Jiménez was the top scorer and named MVP ofthe English side in two consecutive seasons – 2018/19 and 2019/20.

He and Hirving Lozano share the record for the most expensive transfers for a Mexican player in history. Moreover, Jiménez tasted success in the 2012 Olympic Games with the Mexico national teamU-23’s, played in the 2018 World Cup, and lifted the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Jesús ManuelCorona – (Porto)

The winger movedto Europe shortly after making his first steps in Monterrey. Corona played for Twente for three seasons before calling the attention of Portuguese giants Porto, where he established himself as a great player.

Corona saw first-team actionfrom the very beginning with that sideand went on to spend many years with them in a successful stint which included five domestic titles. He already featured for more than 200matches thereand was namedbest player of the Liga NOS 2019/20 season.

Edson Álvarez – (Ajax)

Mexico have a good piece at the back in Edson Álvarez. Heperforms for Dutch giants Ajax, whosigned him for around $17million in 2019. Asides from being a solid central-back, Álvarez can also be a good option for the right-back or even may perform asa defensive midfielder.

He already played important tournaments with El Tricolor, such as the 2018 Russia World Cup, and two Concacaf Gold Cups, including the successfulcampaign in 2019 when they claimed the title.

Héctor Herrera – (Atlético de Madrid)

The midfielder was also part of the Mexican squad that claimed the gold medal in London 2012, and he built an impressive career to remain for many years in top European teams.

He arrived at Porto for the 2013/14 season and stayed with them for six years, in which he played an amazing amount of253 matches. He left in 2019 to a big Spanish side like Atlético de Madrid, where he still performs, being one of the Mexicans that are currently in a world-class side.