Mexican football is one of the most interesting leagues in America due to the fact that they have a wide variety of profiles in terms of players. From young national talent to star players from other nations and even big time players that came from the European leagues, this league always has something interesting to offer, but the core of the tournament is always their national players and one great example of that in recent years is Marco Granados.
Once hailed as one of the most promising strikers of his generation in Mexican football, Marco Granados is still quite a reliable forward and one that can provide goals, work rate and intelligent movement off-the-ball when it’s necessary, so today we’re going to talk about his career, his profile and everything you need to know about him.
Career
Born in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico, on the 29th September of 1996 (so currently 25 years old), Marco Granados has had a bit of a journeyman career in Mexican football so far.
Starting in the youth academy of Club Deportivo Guadalajara, commonly known as Chivas or Chivas de Guadalajara, Marco Granados started to make a name for himself in the Under-17s of the Mexican national team due to his exploits on that level and how he was one of the star performers of the team that made it to the final of the 2013 Under-17 World Cup championship, losing 3-0 in the final against a good Nigerian side that featured Kelechi Iheanacho (now of Leicester City fame and formed in Manchester City’s youth level).
That generation of Mexican players also won the CONCACAF U-17 Championship that same year, with Granados taking the Golden Boot by being the competition’s top scorer. So by the time 2013 ended, he was one of the most promising strikers in Mexican football and he was poised to reach far greater heights if everything went well in his career.
Despite his great exploits with the Mexican national team at the Under-17s level, first chances with Guadalajara were quite slim and he started to go on loan to several teams in the country, such as Venados, Coras and Tampico Madero, without scoring in any of those teams. However, his fourth loan, this time with Club de Fútbol Loros de la Universidad de Colima, would prove to be quite successful for Granados as he would score 11 goals in 26 games with that particular team, which was a great return after such a long drought in previous teams.
He finally cut ties with Chivas and in 2018 he played one year in the short-lived Tuxtla F.C., scoring 8 goals in 14 games, which was once again a very impressive return and would provide him with his first chance in European football, signing for Aiginiakos F.C. of Greek football, although he wouldn’t get much playing time and would have to return six months later to America, this time playing for Nicaragua’s Real Estelí FC, but his time would prove to be short-lived there as well, having lasted only another six months.
Granados would once again try his luck in another country, Salvador’s Once Deportivo de Ahuachapan, but 2 goals in 7 games was a paltry output for him and would eventually return to Mexican football where he once again found his best form by joining Club Deportivo Irapuato in 2020, scoring an amazing 20 goals in 23 games. He would remain one year there and then he signed in 2021 for Leones Negros UdeG.
He still plays with Leones Negros and so far he has scored a decent amount of goals: 7 goals in 19 games.
Playing style.
Granados is a very traditional striker, relying on his athletic qualities, his physicality and off-the-ball runs to get in front of the goalkeeper, so he naturally requires quality service to get the ball in the back of the net. His hold-up play has also been praised and has been one of his defining traits throughout his career.
He has proven to be a reliable goalscorer on many different levels in Mexican football and nowadays could be viewed as a veteran of the league despite being just 25 years old, which suggests that he still has a bit of room for improvement, which is always worth taking into account.
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