According to a report from The Athletic’s Tom Bogert, Club Tijuana is in advanced talks to sign Minnesota United’s Emanuel Reynoso.
Reynoso recently returned to Minnesota after an extended unexcused absence in Argentina, his home country. The 28-year-old had returned to Argentina to acquire his Green Card but failed to show up for multiple meetings with immigration officials. It was the third unexcused absence from Reynoso in the last 14 months.
Major League Soccer suspended Reynoso at the start of the 2023 season after the midfielder failed to show up to Minnesota United’s preseason camp. Reynoso eventually joined the club in June and played 18 games for Minnesota, scoring six goals and adding four assists.
The Argentine then showed up a week late to the team’s preseason camp in January. Reynoso did not appear in any of Minnesota’s first three games before making a substitute appearance in the team’s 2-0 win over LAFC in March.
Bogert stressed in his report that nothing has been agreed or signed between any of the parties at the moment.
If Reynoso were to join the Liga MX club, it would mark an unfortunate end to one of the club’s best-ever players.
Reynoso joined MNUFC midway through the 2020 season and immediately brought a spark to the club’s offense, scoring one goal and six assists in just 13 games. Reynoso led an offense that brought Minnesota within 15 minutes of heading to the MLS Cup Final in 2020.
Scoring 29 goals across all competitions, Reynoso is tied for second all-time in scoring for Minnesota United in its MLS-era.
While the club has insisted that its focus remains on the players that are with the club day-in and day-out, club captain Michael Boxall has expressed strong feelings about Reynoso’s absence.
“I think we’ve all kind of moved on. I don’t even know if anyone actually knows what the situation is,” Boxall told the Pioneer Press in April. “I think he’s made decisions that kind of shows everyone around here that he doesn’t care too much about the club.”
Minnesota United are in the midst of a four-match unbeaten run (3-0-1) and sit second place in the Western Conference with a 7-2-3 record this season.
An interesting story could develop later this summer if both clubs advance out of their groups in Leagues Cup – an annual tournament featuring clubs from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX. Minnesota United and Club Tijuana could face off in the knockout stage of Leagues Cup this summer, should they both advance from the separate groups.
