GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Erick "Cubo" Torres will return to his first club Chivas de Guadalajara for the next six months, the Liga MX club announced on Wednesday.
The future of the 21-year-old Mexico striker had been in doubt following his loan to the now defunct Chivas USA in MLS, with the North American league retaining a buy-out option that was extended on Monday beyond its original Dec. 15 deadline.
"Erick Torres will play with us for the next six months," relegation-threatened Chivas tweeted on Wednesday, near the end of the Liga MX domestic transfer deadline. There has been no word, as yet, from MLS about the deal.
Cubo Torres back to Chivas RT @Chivas: @erickestefano15 will play for us for next 6 months ¡Bienvenido a casa Cubo! pic.twitter.com/a6RcMYpN7C
- Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) December 18, 2014
Torres was loaned out from Chivas to sister club Chivas USA midway through the 2013 MLS season. He went on to net 22 goals in 44 appearances over the 2013 and 2014 seasons and has earned three caps with the full Mexican national team since the World Cup.
There was no immediate official information on what will happen to the Guadalajara native after the six months is up and whether Torres will eventually end up in MLS.
One of Mexico's "big two" clubs, all-Mexican Chivas have been struggling in recent years and could potentially be relegated next May, but confirmed four other transfers on Wednesday. Mexico international winger Isaac Brizuela signed from Toluca, while Marco Fabian, Miguel Ponce and Raul Lopez all returned from loan spells to strengthen the squad significantly.
Other major movers in the market were Club America and Monterrey, with both institutions improving ahead of the start of the Clausura 2015 tournament.
Reigning champion Club America confirmed the signings of Darwin Quintero, Dario Benedetto, Cristian Pellerano and Miguel Samudio, as well as announcing Uruguayan Gustavo Matosas as its new coach, replacing the outgoing Antonio Mohamed.
Apertura 2014 semifinalist Monterrey dipped into the Colombian market to sign Atletico Nacional duo Edwin Cardona and Alexander Mejia, along with Deportes Tolima's Yimmi Chara and Mexican Pablo Barrera from Cruz Azul.
Santos Laguna was also busy bringing in eight new players to replace the experienced trio of Oswaldo Sanchez, Juan Pablo Rodriguez and Darwin Quintero.
Chivas' relegation rival Puebla splashed out on experience, with American striker Herculez Gomez joining, as well as Matias Alustiza, Luis Gabriel Rey, Israel Villasenor, Facundo Erpen, Sergio Perez, Luis Robles and Mario de Luna.
The Liga MX draft is more of an owners meeting in which deals are thrashed out, rather than a traditional draft, and the league announced that a total of $27,620,000 USD was spent by clubs over 52 transfer operations.
The Clausura 2015 tournament begins on Jan. 9, with the deadline for signings from outside of Mexico extending into January.