San Diego FC long ago ditched the idea of a plan B. They had their sights set on one player and one player only, but making it happen wouldn’t be easy.
Over the last few weeks, following several months of recruitment and negotiation, they reached a point where they were close enough for Chucky Lozano to travel to California after winning his second Dutch league title with PSV, iron out final details and undergo a medical.
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But even while sitting at dinner with Lozano and his wife at the hotel they were staying at in La Jolla, San Diego founding partner and CEO Tom Penn couldn’t quash that worry in the back of his head. A deal he had been working on for so long was right there, one that will significantly impact the path his club will take from day one of their inaugural season — could it be real?
“The more complex the deal is, the harder it is to reach full agreement on all terms,” Penn told The Athletic. “You get more into the reality of: Oh my gosh, is this really going to happen? Could this fall apart?”
Dinner was going smoothly. All parties were excited and hopeful, conversation was flowing. Stories of the past, aspirations for the future together. A star player who has won major trophies in Mexico, the Netherlands and Italy helping to launch a new franchise that they hoped would continue that winning tradition.
During the conversation, Penn’s phone buzzed. It was the all-clear from the medical staff. Finally, the last hurdle on an elaborate obstacle course of a deal had been cleared.
“It was a touching moment,” Penn told The Athletic. “It felt like the official start of something special.”
Penn and Lozano shared a warm handshake and smile. From there it was done: San Diego FC signed Mexican star Hirving “Chucky” Lozano from PSV to a major deal by MLS standards, which sources say is around $12 million.
“It’s very representative of our ownership’s ambition to build something special, sustainable and immediately competitive,” Penn said. “Chucky will allow us to do those things. It’s a signal to the market we’re serious, he’s an impact player from day one, to say the least. He should be in the upper echelon of the league. Now, it’s the exciting challenge of building a team around him.”
Since before San Diego FC even had an expansion bid for MLS confirmed, or even decided they would just add “FC” to their city’s name, Lozano was at the top of their wishlist.
Throughout the expansion bid process, San Diego plotted out who could be their marquee star. It would be the signing to show they mean business, on and off the field. Once that MLS bid was confirmed, and a debut 2025 season set, permutations of potential roster builds always started with one name: Chucky.
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“Before you even get the team, you’re thinking about what the roster might look like,” Penn said. “You’re talking about different strategies.”
Lozano checked all the boxes: In his prime at 28 years old, a star attacking player, successful abroad and, importantly for a club merely 17 miles from the border, a bonafide Mexican star.
To negotiate with and sign a player in MLS, a club must have their “discovery rights,” a unique element within the league that determines which teams are able to exclusively negotiate with a given player. Expansion clubs cannot launch a discovery list until the calendar year before their debut. San Diego immediately put a claim in for Lozano at the beginning of January. To their pleasant surprise, they had top priority with the only claim for him and could start working on the deal officially.
“It was immediately: This is our guy, we’re going to do this,” Penn said.
All winter, everything was planned around Lozano. How other targets would fit with him. There was no list of other options should Lozano fall through.
Lozano was open to it, surprised how attractive the project was. He always wanted to return to North America one day and he didn’t think his head would be turned this soon, but San Diego convinced him now was the right time, according to sources briefed on the player’s thinking. Those sources said there was a significant offer from Mexico, as well.
The San Diego project aligned with who Lozano is, those sources said, adding he plans to create his own charity foundation to give back to kids on both sides of the border. After winning league titles with Napoli and PSV (in both his stints there), he felt he accomplished a lot in Europe. The time and the project was right for him.
Those talks on San Diego’s side were coming from the top. The club did not — and still does not — have a sporting director. This deal was led by Penn. San Diego owner Mohamed Mansour, also owns FC Nordsjælland as well as Right to Dream, a youth soccer academy. Between those two groups, technical staffers are helping with San Diego. Tyler Heaps, who works for Right To Dream, has been particularly integral to the club’s buildout. The club has also added MLS-specific staff, like head scout Sean Howe.
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Alongside Penn, San Diego had lawyers working on the contract details. Lozano had his agents on both sides of the Atlantic: Shaun Higgins and Claudio Suarez of PRO FC, as well as Barry Whelan and James Warnock of Unique Sports Group. They had their lawyers, too.
It was a lot of cooks in the kitchen, symbolic of the intricacy of the deal. It led to some stop-start moments, particularly when it came to the commercial side.
Agreeing to terms with PSV, plus devising a big contract is complicated enough, but San Diego’s pursuit of Lozano had unusual elements as well. There were image rights and marketing nuances to be factored in. The club is starting from scratch, Lozano would be a selling point to fans and sponsors alike.
“Anytime you bring a marquee player like Chucky, it’s difficult to quantify the monetary value he brings to your commercial business,” Penn said. “Historically, that’s been a difficult thing to do. … In this case, it’s unique because we’re starting from scratch. Making an assessment of what we could accomplish commercially (with Chucky) was a challenge (for both sides).”
In MLS, Lozano will quickly rise as one of the league’s premier players. The Mexican-American community in San Diego and throughout Southern California will no doubt embrace his arrival. Lozano will join an illustrious list of past and present Mexican internationals who have come to the U.S. to raise the profile of the league, and connect with the highly influential Latino fanbase.
Most recently, Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez and Hector Herrera made highly publicized moves to MLS. Lozano’s San Diego FC jersey will likely be among the most popular in MLS. Commercially, Lozano has the profile the league seeks. As MLS’ relationship with Liga MX grows, players like Lozano who opt for MLS rather than returning to Mexico, strengthen the MLS’ brand in the region.
“His age, the trajectory of his career with a lot of good years left, an attacking player and ability for him to physically be here day one,” Penn said. “Obviously another big piece of it is he’s a minted Mexican star, which is super relevant in our market.”
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Lozano was launched to stardom the day the baby-faced winger scored Mexico’s lone goal to beat reigning champion Germany at the 2018 World Cup. At 22-years-old, he was excelling in Europe with PSV and destined for more.
Since then, Lozano’s career has ebbed and flowed. His detractors in Mexico say that he has lived off that goal and that he has never truly lived up to his potential. On the other hand, Lozano is among Mexico’s most popular footballers. His lung-busting runs and direct play have lifted Mexican fans off their seats on many occasions.
Lozano still holds the distinction as the most expensive Mexican player of all time. Serie A side Napoli, then coached by now five-time Champions League winner Carlo Ancelotti, paid nearly $50 million for Lozano in 2019. Ancelotti was Lozano’s champion in Italy, but after he was sacked at the end of 2019, other managers followed and Lozano was in and out of the starting lineup for most of his time in Italy.
Lozano returned to PSV last summer and won his second Eredivisie title, but he wasn’t a constant starter there, either. That won’t be the case in San Diego. The club’s hopes will rest on his shoulders as the squad is built around him.
(All photos: San Diego FC)