Arsenal prospect Marcelo Flores is now set to undergo a medical at Tigres UANL after agreeing to a last-ditch transfer before the Mexican window closes on September 13.
That is according to Fabrizio Romano, who claims that Tigres have found an agreement with Arsenal to buy Flores. The 19-year-old will now travel to San Nicolas de los Garza to undergo a medical at the University Stadium. He will sign a four-year contract with the Liga MX team.
Flores has spent the last four years at Arsenal after leaving Ipswich Town to join the Gunners as a youth. He also spent time at Brampton Fairgrounds in Canada before moving to England in 2017. But the attacking midfielder has struggled to forge a path into Mikel Arteta’s squad.
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Arsenal to sell Flores to Tigres after a loan transfer with Real Oviedo
His potential was evident with the Emirates Stadium side’s Under-18 and U21 teams before moving to Real Oviedo on loan. The Ontario, Canada-born playmaker spent 2022/23 at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere. But he only offered one assist over 13 outings in Spain’s second tier.
Flores displayed immense versatility with appearances as a winger, attacking midfielder and as a false nine whilst in Spain. But he would not replicate the form the Mexico U23 maestro showed in north London. Flores scored 10 and assisted five goals in 32 U18 Arsenal fixtures.
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Flores was a ‘very creative’ player in the Gunners’ academy teams
Goals continued to flow at the U21 level with Arsenal, too, as Flores scored five and assisted one in 16 outings. Yet Arteta only afforded the diminutive 5 ft 4 prospect one appearance in a first-team squad. Flores was just an unused substitute away to Crystal Palace in April 2022.
Now, Arsenal have agreed to sell Flores to Tigres before the transfer market ends in Mexico. It closes the door on a chapter in the playmaker’s career that featured the Gunners’ ex-U21 coach, Kevin Betsy, describing Flores as a ‘very creative’ player with an ‘excellent’ work rate.