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The summer transfer window is well underway, and things have been pretty quiet around LAFC, but that could change in short order.
Reports out of Colombia on Monday claim LAFC will be signing forward Cristian Arango from Millonarios.
Guillermo Arango reports that Millonarios will retain a 20 percent sell-on fee for Cristian Arango, but this looks like a sale and not a loan situation.
@MillosFCoficial aceptó la oferta de #LAFC por Cristian Arango y se reserva el 20% para una futura venta.
— Guillermo Arango (@guilloarango) July 19, 2021
Faltan algunas firmas para hacer oficial la noticia. pic.twitter.com/bpPjhgGDiz
Arango, 26, is coming off a good short season with Millonarios, in which he was second in the league in scoring and helped his club reach the playoff final, where they lost to Deportes Tolima. This report from Bolavip indicates the club’s fans and local press expected Arango to lead the line again this coming season for Millonarios, but his continued absence stoked speculation he would be on the move. That report says the transfer fee for Arango is in the $2-2.5 million range, which means he would likely be a TAM signing for LAFC.
He began his career at Envigado in Colombia in 2012, and made his first foray abroad to play for La Liga side Valencia’s B team in 2015-16. After that season, he went on loan for his first stint with Millonarios.
Arango signed abroad for Portuguese giants Benfica in 2017, but never played a competitive game for them, going on two loan spells with fellow Portuguese clubs Aves and Tondela in consecutive seasons. In 2019 he returned to Millonarios and has had a good strike rate back in Colombia.
Clearly he’s a player with European potential but either it’s been a bit too high of a jump at the time for him or he hasn’t found the right situation. At the same time, he’s never been capped by Colombia so LAFC would likely not have to worry about him leaving for international duty.
So, is this transfer rumor legit? LAFC have not responded to a request for comment as of publication of this story. But this one is spreading like wildfire in Colombia, and generally, if something is being this widely reported in the player’s home country, it’s really quite likely. My hunch is that this one will be announced before long but obviously if we find something out to the contrary, we’ll let you know.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.