Piojo Alvarado joins Chivas for Clausura 2022

The rumors have been confirmed. Roberto “Piojo” Alvarado is no longer a Cruz Azul player. Last night Chivas made it official across its social media with a series of post revealing that Alvarado will join the rojiblancos for Clausura 2022.

Both teams had been going back and forth on the negotiations for a few days, but last night Guadalajara was the first of the two to announce they agreed on terms to strengthen up the squad for the upcoming Clausura 2022.

The transfer will help improve immediately the attacking side of the team, a spot they were desperate to fill after a worrying season where the lack of goals was a constant throughout the 17 games, as they were only able to score 13 times, the second lowest amount for a Liga MX team in Apertura 2021, just above Querétaro, who only managed to score on 11 occasions.

The arrival of “Piojo” to Chivas side was part of an exchange between Guadalajara and Cruz Azul, which involves the transfer of Uriel Antuna to the Cementeros, as well as the loan of Alejandro Mayorga for a 1-year period, with an option to buy him after the loan expires.

Piojo Alvarado’s tenure in Cruz Azul

Roberto Alvarado arrived to La Noria during the summer transfer window of 2018 from Necaxa. He played 7 tournaments wearing La Máquina colors and now will be defending his 4^th Liga MX jersey. Alvarado leaves Cruz Azul after playing 144 games, scoring on 19 occasions and assisting 25 times.

During Apertura 2021, Alvarado played 14 games of the regular season, 12 of them on the starting lineup and the other two as a substitute. He managed to score on four occasions as well as assisting one time. He saw his playing time diminished, hence one of the reasons why he is looking to start fresh in a new club.

He was also part of the squad that helped Cruz Azul to break a 23-year-old streak without a championship under the wing of Juan Reynoso in his first tournament as Cruz Azul’s coach.

Orbelín Pineda wishes farewell to “Piojo”

Pineda was the first Cruz Azul player to speak up about the departure of Alvarado to Chivas’ side. With a couple of Instagram stories, he wished good luck to his now ex-teammate on this new stage on his career.

“I wish you all the success in this new stage for you, you’re gonna feel like home” he wrote in a message along two pictures of them together, one with Cruz Azul’s jersey and the other holding the Gold Cup Mexico won in 2019.

A regular for Tata Martino and El Tri

Since debuting in 2018 with the senior squad of the Mexican National Team, Alvarado has played 26 times for “Tata” Martino’s team. During this time, he has scored four goals and assisted three times.

Half of the fixtures he’s played defending the Mexican colors have been friendly matches, and excluding 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, he’s been called almost every time El Tri plays, from FIFA World Cup Qualifiers to CONCACAF Nations League.

Chivas players also say goodbye to their teammates

Around the same time the official accounts of Chivas announced the signing of “Piojo” Alvarado, Alexis Vega was already saying goodbye to Uriel Antuna, Chivas’ striker who was also part of the negotiations.

“No more Tamarind Duo” he wrote on Twitter, jokingly referencing one of the scandals both players were part of but that, inevitably, brought them closer.

He also posted two black and white pictures where they are hugging each other and Antuna is holding a bag as they leave Verde Valle, Chivas’ facilities.