Marcelo Flores has now likened himself to Eden Hazard in the Belgian winger’s prime mere weeks after Arsenal sold the Mexican midfielder to Tigres UANL for a minor fee.
The Gunners allowed Flores to join Tigres for £2m on September 10 after enjoying four years in north London. He initially headed to the capital club in February 2019 to sign for Arsenal’s academy. Emirates Stadium chiefs sought a move after a spell in Ipswich Town’s youth side.
Flores regularly offered a creative presence in the Under-18 and U21 sides at London Colney during his time at Arsenal. Yet Mikel Arteta never handed the 19-year-old a first-team debut. He further only included the three-cap talent on their bench for one Premier League fixture.
Flores left Arsenal for Tigres without a senior appearance
A seat in the dugout against Crystal Palace in April 2022 proved to be Flores’ sole matchday involvement with Arsenal’s first-team. Arteta also sent the Ontario, Canada-born creator out on loan to Real Oviedo in 2022/23. But the loan only returned one assist in 15 appearances.
Arsenal would have hoped for more from Flores in Spain’s second tier after impressing with their academy teams. He struck 10 goals and five assists in 32 appearances at the U18 level. While Flores stepped up to score five and assist one goal in 16 games for the Gunners’ U21s.
Flores further showed solid versatility to create chances from either wing or as an attacking midfielder. But his potential will now develop in Mexico, where the 5 ft 6 playmaker got his Tigres debut against Atlas Guadalajara on Monday. He came on as a 72nd-minute substitute.
Flores likens himself to Coutinho and Hazard in their prime
It marked the start of Flores’ journey for Tigres after leaving Arsenal, who could come to rue the transfer. Just weeks after leaving north London, Flores has now stated he has a few traits that are similar to Philippe Coutinho and Hazard with the ball when they were at their peak.
“When I was a child, my idol was Ronaldinho [and] then [Lionel] Messi,” Flores told TUDN, as quoted by Marca. “Each player is different but I think I have more things about Coutinho and Hazard because of my agility [and] because of how I move the ball.
“I watch a lot of videos of them and I loved seeing them in their prime.”
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