One of the great losses that the Universitario de Deportes will suffer on the occasion of its 100th anniversary will be that Piero Quispe. Recently named Best Player of Liga 1 2023, the player will continue his career with club Pumas de UNAM, which plays in the Mexican League. It will be the 22-year-old midfielder's first experience abroad, who faces the difficult task of not only excelling in more competitive football, but also matching or improving on the achievements of other compatriots.
In recent seasons, several Peruvian players who made the leap from the local environment to the Aztec tournament have exceeded the expectations set for them at the time of their signing. Although the situation is very different at the moment, a likely good performance from Quispe could make the national market attractive for Mexican football again.
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Raul Ruidíaz
One of the main people responsible for the rise of Peruvians in Mexico in the last years of the last decade was the “Pulga”. After a good first semester at the “U” in 2016, Monarch Morelia He was interested in him and managed to hire him. The striker had no problems adapting to his new squad as he demonstrated his goalscoring abilities in his first few games.
Thanks to his 40 goals scored, Ruidíaz managed to become the tournament's top scorer twice (consecutively) and played a key role in helping his team avoid relegation. Although he did not win any titles, he was awarded three “golden balls” by the Liga MX organization: best player, best striker and best goalscorer. In 2018 he was sold to the Seattle Sounders of the MLS, with whom he celebrated his previous success.
Anderson Santamaria
2018 was Santa's first year abroad when he was hired by Puebla and then managed by Juan Reynoso. His time in the cast of the strip was short in contrast to his stay on the strip Atlas of Guadalajarain which he consolidated himself as one of the “walls” of the central defense.
With the Foxes, Santamaría took part in the historic 2021 championship, which marked an end to the 70-year drought for the red-black team. As if that wasn't enough, he was crowned a two-time champion in 2021 and secured a contract extension for several more seasons. A few weeks ago he reached 100 games with the Guadalajara team.
Anderson Santamaría was a two-time champion with Atlas FC. Photo: Instagram
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Pedro Aquino
After establishing himself as a regular in Sporting Cristal's first team, the “Rock” emigrated to Mexico in the second half of 2017. With Lobos BUAP, Aquino only lasted one season and could not avoid relegation, but his good performances allowed him to enter the orbit of Club Leon. In the Cat team, the midfielder played at a high level for three seasons and won the championship in 2020.
In 2021 it was purchased by América and stood out in the first few months. However, he suffered from several injuries that prevented him from repeating the success achieved in the Emerald team. In mid-2023 he was transferred to Santos Laguna, where he usually starts.
Pedro Aquino won a Liga MX title with León. Photo: MexSport
Christian Cueva
Although 2015 began turbulently for “Cuevita” due to several controversies in the Alianza Lima, his performance in the Copa América was enough to convince him Deportivo Toluca to be installed as reinforcement for the second half of the year.
The start of the Apertura tournament was difficult for “Aladino” due to his inexperience in Mexico, but in the Clausura he managed to “break out” and become one of the most outstanding players in his team, to the point where Sao Paulo was eliminated by Brazil paid more than a million dollars for his signing. In 2020 he would have enjoyed a temporary return to Aztec football with Pachuca, but he did so during one of the most unstable moments of his career, which is why it did not go beyond that.
Christian Cueva played in Toluca for a year. Photo: Imago7