Jordy Caicedo and his ‘sports suicide’, with the help of his businessman: from the best foreigner in Bulgaria to unemployed in Mexico

Jordy Caicedo —surely advised by his employer— gambled and lost, in every order, when he decided to leave European football for Concacaf. From being the greatest football sensation in Bulgaria, the Ecuadorian striker today became unemployed in soccer in Mexico. In that country, the Clausura 2023 tournament began last Friday, and Tigres de Monterrey did not register the Ecuadorian (his quota was used to register Uruguayan midfielder Fernando Gorriarán), the most expensive signing he made in mid-2022.

Jordy Caicedo, Tigres’ ‘biggest headache’: no ​​club wants the Ecuadorian

The previous July, when the Machaleño forward arrived at the club from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, the commercial value of the Tigres was (and still is) higher than that of CSKA. According to Transfermarkt, a website specialized in this aspect, the Mexican institution is listed at $70.37 million, and the Bulgarian institution at $12.63 million.

Jordy Caicedo, as Agustín Delgado, called ‘unprofessional’ by a foreign club; CSKA of Bulgaria complains about the tricolor, as Southampton FC did 20 years ago with the ‘Tin’

Given that, it is understood that in the Tigres, an entity of enormous economic power in Mexico, Caicedo secured a much higher salary than he received in CSKA, the most popular team in his country and which holds the most national titles (31). According to the version of the Aztec portal Halftime, the tricolor agreed with the cats an annual salary of $ 2 million. But to get out of the contract with Sofía’s team, owner of his sports rights, the Ecuadorian chose to stop showing up for training and disappear without giving explanations.

Caicedo forced his transfer. The attacker was transferred by CSKA Sofia, who rejected football offers from Turkey and Argentina to retain their scorer in Bulgaria. After an absence of several weeks and without hearing from the tricolor, which the CSKA leadership called “unprofessional” due to his conduct, there was an agreement with the businessman from Caicedo for him to join the Tigres, the new team of the. The attacker landed in Monterrey on July 5.

Better than ever!

In Bulgaria, Caicedo’s market value skyrocketed from 800,000 euros ($852,000) to 2 million euros ($2.130 million) and his name began to ring across Europe thanks to his remarkable scoring output with CSKA.

Never before, as it happened in Bulgaria, Caicedo’s performance was so spectacular. In 65 official matches with the Bulgarian Army team jersey, the striker scored 31 goals, to establish an effectiveness of 0.47 goals per game.

After arriving from Esporte Clube Vitória, from Portugal, in the second half of the 2020-2021 season, the Ecuadorian established himself immediately since its debut, in February 2021. Caicedo’s performance was so remarkable that on January 20, 2022 it was announced that he had been voted the best foreign footballer in the Bulgarian League, a distinction he shared with a CSKA teammate, Dutch defender Jurgen Matheij.

best foreigner

The election was conducted by 112 sports journalists, with representatives of 41 Bulgarian media outlets. In January 2022, Caicedo, who today does not have a team, had scored 17 goals in 30 games with CSKA (0.56 average).

Everything was love between the Machaleño and the entity that hired him. “I want to thank my family, especially CSKA and its fans for all the love; and to my colleagues, because without their help this would not have been possible. I’m going for 2022”, said Caicedo when the year had just begun and he was designated as the most distinguished foreign player in Bulgaria. But the “sports suicide” was less than a semester away from happening.

Missing

In May, at the end of the season in Europe, Turkey’s Besiktas proposed to pay 2.7 million euros ($2.8 million) for the tricolor, but the figure was far from 5 million ($5.3 million). what CSKA wanted. According to information released from the Old Continent, Fulham, from England; Sassuolo, from Italy; and Lens, from France, also wanted Caicedo, but the proposals that each institution presented did not satisfy CSKA, owner of the pass.

In June 2022, Caicedo launched his plan to leave Bulgaria. The CSKA goalscorer, the figure in that country’s championship, the best foreigner of the campaign, the most valued footballer of the capital team, the attacker who was wanted by several countries of greater soccer relevance disappeared without justifying his absence. On June 23, 2022 there was a pronouncement.

“We have no information on the whereabouts of the player. Caicedo received a visa and a ticket to Austria, where he had to join the team rally today (June 23, 2022). The attacker did not board the plane and was not found at his home either. We are currently not in contact with the player,” CSKA published on their social media.

And, since Caicedo’s interest in emigrating to Mexico was already public, the entity also clarified: “CSKA has not received an offer or request from Tigres for the purchase of the striker. Such a transfer has never been on the table.”

‘Mistreatment’ of CSKA

The representative of the tricolor forward was also indicated. CSKA complained about “the mistreatment” of the club by the footballer and his representative (Hernán Banato), “again”, according to CSKA. “They did not give correct information about the reason for the player’s delay in returning to Sofia and now, generally speaking, they just disappeared without explanation.”

Due to “Caicedo’s unprofessional attitude towards his work”, as the leadership said, in the face of the “unforeseen situation, urgent and correct measures were sought to get out” of the problem. Thus, because of the measure taken by the Ecuadorian, the CKSA transferred it, according to various press versions, in $4.4 million to the Tigers.

“I feel very good, happy, and I come to work. I am ready to make a pair with whoever the coach says, if he is with (the French André-Pierre) Gignac or with anyone, ”Caicedo declared upon arriving in Monterrey. But, if in Bulgaria he had his moment of greatest splendor as a footballer in the highest division, in Tigres he lived his worst moment: just one goal in 16 official matches (a very poor 0.06 average). His only score with the university students was made six months ago.

Outside the Tricolor

From being the absolute starter at CSKA, Caicedo went on to only have two 90-minute games with the Tigers. He forced his departure to Mexico and nowhere was he worse than there (in Portugal he scored nine goals, eight at El Nacional and six at Universidad Católica). He has been ruled out by Tigres (he is going for the Colombian Rafael Santos Borré, who would not continue at Eintracht Frankfurt, in the Bundesliga). There is no club in Mexico that Caicedo is interested in because of his high cost, his high salary and his lousy sports record in the country.

Where will he continue his career? What advice will your employer give you now? Will he be able to remove the “unprofessional” letterhead that CSKA put on him?

The departure from Bulgaria, through the back door, and the shipwreck in Mexico resulted in “sports suicide” for Jordy Caicedo. Being without activity in Tigres almost since he joined that club, he left the sights of Gustavo Alfaro, coach of Ecuador, who did not include the striker in the list of 26 World Cup players for Qatar 2022.

Caicedo has several things against him: he is without a team, at CSKA they don’t want to know anything about him, his price has surely plummeted, he can no longer aspire to earn a salary higher than what Tigres paid him, next January 31 the book of passes in Europe and no rumors of interest in him are heard. Who almost 365 days ago was voted the best foreign footballer in Bulgaria is currently out of work. (D)