Major League Soccer expansion team San Diego is set to sign PSV Eindhoven and Mexico national team winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano as a Designated Player, sources confirm to ESPN.
Lozano will remain with the reigning Eredivisie champions for the next six months before joining San Diego on Jan. 1 ahead of their MLS debut in February 2025.
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His proposed salary lies in the $7 to $9 million range, ranking within the top five most expensive players in the league at the moment, in terms of guaranteed compensation.
While Lozano hasn’t yet signed a contract, the deal is expected to be completed, with an announcement imminent, making him the first official DP of the expansion team.
The left-winger joins after recording six goals in 29 games across all competitions with PSV throughout the 2023-24 season, propelling the Dutch team to the Eredivisie title for the first time in six years.
Lozano previously lifted the trophy during his first stint with the club in 2018 and the Serie A title while playing for Napoli in 2023. Prior to his transfer abroad, the player won the Liga MX Clausura in 2016 and the Concacaf Champions League in 2017 with Pachuca.
He’s previously played an integral role with the Mexican national team, recording 18 goals in 70 games. Lozano featured in both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, famously scoring against Germany in Mexico’s first group stage game in Russia to propel his transfer from PSV to Napoli.
But Lozano isn’t going to be part of the Mexico squad for the upcoming Copa América.
San Diego has signed just three players so far: goalkeeper Duran Ferree, Jeppe Tverskov and Marcus Ingvartsen.
The two Danish veterans currently play for San Diego’s partnership club FC Nordsjælland, but are set to join the MLS team for preseason in January around the same time as Lozano.
The expansion team has yet to announce a head coach or sporting director, after the talks with AS Monaco technical director Carlos Aviña Ibarrola broke down earlier this year.
