New England Revolution was happy with the way forward Cristian Penilla and midfielder Luis Caicedo performed this year, so the team decided to turn their loan deals into permanent moves. Penilla and Caicedo were on one-year-long loans from Mexico’s Pachuca and Colombia’s Cortulua, respectively.
Revolution confirmed the news via their official Twitter profile.
#NERevs exercise permanent transfer options on Cristian Penilla and Luis Caicedo ⬇️https://t.co/Lg5q0x6RKf#NERevs pic.twitter.com/L3O1RFviKV
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) November 2, 2018
“This year both Penilla and Caicedo were impactful players on the field for us and we felt it was important to exercise both players’ permanent transfer options at the start of the offseason,” – said team’s general manager Michael Burns in a statement. “We look forward to seeing both players continue to grow and contribute to the team’s success moving forward.“
Cristian Penilla started his professional career in his native Ecuador, before making a transfer to Pachuca in 2015. However, he never managed to settle in the club and was sent on several loans before coming to MLS. With Revolution, Penilla rediscovered his form and ended up being the team’s leading scorer with 12 goals in 33 games while also providing seven assists.
Spending his youth career with Portugal’s powerhouse Sporting, Luis Caicedo never managed to get a chance in Europe and decided to sign with Cortulua in 2015. After some strong performances with the club, he was brought in by New England in March and ended up establishing himself as one of the best young defensive midfielders in the league. He played 30 games in MLS and has scored one goal.
