Despite the big investment the San Jose Earthquakes once made to acquire Hernan Lopez Muñoz, the Argentine appears to be leaving the club to return to Argentina.
Lopez Muñoz arrived at the Quakes in April 2024 for a reported $6 million transfer fee. And although he had a great start personally, the Quakes were flat-out bad, weighed down by a historically awful defense.
Then in 2025, Lopez Muñoz missed the start of the season with a shoulder issue. When he returned, he was outside of new manager Bruce Arena's plans, used at most for 30 minutes off the bench in MLS matches.
Argentinos Juniors emerges
For weeks, the name of Diego Maradona's great-nephew was circulating in the Argentinian news. Every newspaper, sports show, and sports streaming site talked about his return.
Where is he going to play once he goes back to Argentina? River Plate? Racing Club?
In the end, he decided to play for the boyhood club of his great-uncle, Argentinos Juniors, with Argentine journalist Cesar Luis Merlo confirming his return on Thursday. The terms appear to be an 18-month loan with an option to buy 50% of the player's rights currently owned by San Jose.
Why San Jose is saying goodbye
The simple truth is that Lopez Muñoz's departure won't be felt much, if at all, by the San Jose squad, whose quality has skyrocketed compared to last season.
The Goonies are sitting sixth in the Western Conference, when last year, they were last. They have three of the league's most productive attacking players in Cristan Arango, Josef Martinez and Cristian Espinoza.
And most importantly for the departing Argentine, Arena has changed the formation from a 3-5-2 to a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-3.
With this setup, the Quakes used the central attacking playmaker role less, and the central midfielder connects attack and defense better, bringing optimal results to the Goonies without the participation of their soon-to-be-former No. 23.
That they're getting any compensation for his services should be viewed as a positive, considering how clearly he now sits on the outside of San Jose's picture.