Apertura MX 2025: Season Preview

This weekend marks the start of a new Liga MX tournament, the Apertura 2025, kicking off the 2025–26 season. It will be the 114th top-flight tournament and the 59th under the short tournament format.

The tournament will begin on July 11 and run through December, although the exact date of the final has yet to be determined.

The Tournament

The format will remain the same as in recent editions: the Play-In will still be used (though it will be removed for the Clausura 2026), and there will be no relegation. The only change is to the Youth Player Rule, which has increased from 1,000 to 1,170 minutes per team. Additionally, the requirements for foreign reinforcements will be stricter, with more demanding criteria for players coming into the league.

Main transfers

Unlike other Mexican football markets, this one hasn’t seen major high-profile signings, though there have been plenty of coaching changes. The player grabbing all the headlines is Aaron Ramsey, the new reinforcement for Pumas.

The 34-year-old Welsh midfielder, with a past at clubs like Arsenal, Juventus, Nice, and Rangers, arrives from Cardiff City in his home country, where he spent the last two years and even acted as interim manager in the final matches, but was unable to prevent relegation to England’s third division.

For now, he is Pumas’ only official signing, though names like Kevin Viveros, Héctor Moreno, Alan Montes, and Álvaro Angulo are being rumored. Departures include Lisandro Magallán, Michell Rodríguez, Ricardo Galindo, Ali Ávila, Rogelio Funes Mori, and most notably, goalkeeper Alex Padilla, who returns to Athletic Bilbao.

Reigning champions Toluca retained Pau López after his loan ended and strengthened their midfield with 24-year-old Argentine Nicolás Castro, who comes from Spain’s second division side Elche. The ‘Diablos Rojos’ reportedly paid close to $5 million for him.

Meanwhile, América will try to reclaim the Liga MX throne and has already added champion Isaías Violante, a 21-year-old player. They also signed Alexis Gutiérrez and are rumored to be pursuing two standout players: Denis Bouanga, a Gabonese forward from Los Angeles FC, and Diego Luna, an American midfielder from Real Salt Lake.

Departures for the ‘Águilas’ include Dutchman Javairô Dilrosun—who has now joined Los Angeles FC for the Club World Cup—and Chilean Diego Valdés, who will play for Vélez Sarsfield in Argentina.

One team yet to announce any signings—but expected to make a big splash—is Cruz Azul. Now coached by Nicolás Larcamón, rumors surrounding Luka Jović are gaining traction. The 27-year-old Serbian striker, currently at AC Milan and formerly of Real Madrid, could don the blue jersey.

For that to happen, they’ll likely need to offload players, especially foreigners. Potential departures include Gabriel ‘Toro’ Fernández, Giorgios Giakoumakis, Carlos Rotondi, Gonzalo Piovi, Erik Lira, Charly Rodríguez, Carlos Vargas, and Kevin Mier. On the incoming side, José Paradela, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, and Jeremy Márquez are all being linked, with Márquez appearing to be the closest.

Grupo Pachuca used its network of clubs for a triple shuffle. Salomón Rondón has been officially announced as a new signing for Real Oviedo in Spain, who have just been promoted to La Liga.

His replacement at Pachuca is fellow Venezuelan Jhonder Cádiz, who leaves Club León after scoring eight goals. It’s also rumored that Alemão, previously at Oviedo, will move to León. ‘La Fiera’ also lost Steven Mendoza, who transferred to Athletico Paranaense.

Returning to the ‘Tuzos’, they are one of the teams that made the most signings, including Gastón Torni, Avilés Hurtado, Víctor Guzmán, Kenedy, and Agustín Palavecino, among others. Several of them have already made their debut in the recent Club World Cup and are ready to start the .

Other transfers

Ecuadorian forward Jordy Caicedo will not return to Atlas and will continue in Sporting Gijón (Spain). The other Jalisco-based team, Chivas, signed Richard Ledezma from PSV, Bryan González from Pachuca, and Efraín Álvarez from Tijuana, as well as Argentine coach Gabriel Milito. However, they lost Mateo Chávez (AZ Alkmaar), Víctor Guzmán (Pachuca), and Fernando Beltrán (León).

Rayados brought back Johan Rojas and signed Uruguayan goalkeeper Santiago Mele. However, reports suggest that coach Domènec Torrent did not request his signing, and the club may now consider loaning him out. Roberto de la Rosa is also leaving but won’t be considered by Pachuca, who owns his rights, and may join León.

The other Monterrey club, Tigres, has not made any moves yet but is reportedly preparing a major signing.

Necaxa, which lost key players like Palavecino and Rojas, and may soon part ways with José Paradela as well, has only confirmed the signing of Spanish midfielder Raúl Sánchez from Castellón. The club also hired Argentine coach Fernando Gago following his controversial exit from Chivas and a poor spell at Boca Juniors.

Apertura MX 2025 Main Candidates

Betting Odds Apertura MX 2025 Winner