Napoli officially got Hirving Lozano. This Mexican player was brought in from PSV Eindhoven and was recruited in the summer of 2019. Il Partenopei announced his transfer through the club’s official Twitter account. It was not stated clearly how much the transfer value of this 24-year player contracts.
But according to Italian Football, Napoli had to spend as much as 40 million euros, or around Rp 628 billion to bring Lozano to San Paolo. This amount made him the most expensive recruitment from Naples.
The player whose full name is Hirving Rodrigo Lozano Bahena was born on 30 July 1995 in Mexico City, Mexico. Lozano had trained his abilities in the city of Pachuca which is 90 kilometers north of the capital. This is where he learned and developed a strong desire to succeed.
Lozano has been in Pachuca since 2009 but only made his professional debut in 2014. He both had doubts and was nervous about becoming a new player. The iconic Estadio Azteca was a spectator in Lozano’s sweet debut in the MX League match against Club América.
Lozano chose a goal after five minutes on the pitch, running from the right side and moving to the right foot, passing Moíses Muñoz in the 89th minute. An impressive introduction, right? for a player who was 19 years old at that time?
On matchday opening of the 2017 Mexican league, precisely on 17 January, Lozano won a hat-trick against León in a 4–2 Pachuca victory. In May 2017, Pachuca won the CONCACAF Champions League by winning over fellow Mexican club Tigres UANL in the final.
In the competition, Lozano won the Golden Boot after appearing as the top scorer with five goals, also won the Best Young Player Award.
Together with Pachuca, Lozano won two trophies. Besides the Champions League Concacaf, Lozano also won the Mexican league trophy in 2016. Lozano played in 149 matches and scored 43 goals during his three-year career in the Pachuca first team.
On the other hand, Lozano also defended the Mexican junior national team. In 2015, he won the gold trophy Concacaf u-20. The next year, he played at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Mexico u-23. Together with the junior Mexican team, Lozano had recorded 17 appearances and scored 6 goals.
His brilliant performances with Pachuca made European clubs, Manchester City and Celta Vigo were interested in him. But, the PSV became the first club that came with an official offer instead. Their offer worthed 8 euros, or around Rp 128 billion.
On June 19, 2017, PSV Eindhoven announced the signing of Lozano on a six-year contract.
Mexico’s national team coach, Juan Carlos Osorio, was the most supportive figure for Lozano’s move to PSV. He did not want his young players to be put on the bench for other European teams. PSV is the right choice for Lozano according to Osorio.
Moreover, some observers from PSV need Lozano’s services as a brilliant step that could affect the team’s journey in the future.
That was because the player who currently has 22 caps and 5 goals with the Mexican national team was predicted as a young star with extraordinary prospects.
Lozano’s captivating performance even made him being compared with one of the two current big star players, Cristiano Ronaldo. Moreover, these two players who are from different generations also have the same position on the field.
Lozano then made his competitive debut for PSV in the Europa League qualifying event against the Croatian club, Osijek.
Autumn with PSV was passed very brilliantly. He completed this season as PSV’s top scorer in the Eredivisie with 17 goals and 11 assists.
In that season, Lozano made 39 appearances in all competitions. He was also included in the Eredivisie’s best team arrangement.
Together with the Senior National team, Lozano has appeared regularly since making his debut in 2016. Lozano only appeared to dominate times in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers but he was the top scorer of EL Tri in this event with four goals.
At the 2018 world cup, Lozano became the key player of the team. He became the actor of Mexico’s victory over the defending champion, Germany, through a goal thanks to assists from Javier Hernández so that Mexico win 1-0. In that match, he was called the man of the match. In the same year, Lozano was also named the best Concacaf player.
Reinforcing PSV for the 2018/19 season, his performance has improved. In that season, Lozano was able to score 21 goals in all competitions from 40 matches. During his two seasons with PSV, Lozano has given many fans an impression. Lozano recorded 79 matches and scored 40 goals in all competitions.
In the eyes of his colleagues, Lozano is usually called Chucky. Not only that, Lozano is said to have a vision of playing called Gambetta. In Spanish, it is interpreted by the Mexicans as a killer who runs fast.
Now, we are still expecting Lozano’s appearance with his new club, Napoli.
