As far as Edson Alvarez was concerned, he was living the dream — playing for his boyhood club and on track to becoming a professional footballer. But there was one issue.
Each morning when he left his family home in Tlalnepantla, Mexico, it took the midfielder two to three hours to travel the 24 miles (39 kilometres) to Club America’s training ground in Tlalpan. Alvarez was an academy prospect and did not drive. His coaches knew he had great potential and urged the club’s hierarchy to intervene.
Advertisement
“He’d never complain, but he had to travel so far to get to training and it must’ve taken a toll on him,” says ex-Club America forward Oribe Peralta. “Edson had to take a train, a bus and a taxi. I have no idea how much he spent getting to training, but it must’ve been a lot. He had to wake up so early just to make it in time.
“When things started to get serious, me and some of the older guys told him he had to live closer to the training ground. The club knew they had a great prospect in Edson so they helped him find an apartment.
“The coaches knew they couldn’t let a talented player like Edson slip away from the academy. When he started making money he bought a car so he could drive to training.
“He no longer lived with his parents and, before my eyes, I saw him go from a boy to a man.
“In Mexico, a large percentage of footballers come from low-income families. They always have to make sacrifices if they have the will and desire to become professional footballers. Edson commuting for almost three hours to get to training tells you how much he wanted to make it. He put the effort in and that’s what set him apart. Even when he could, he never once complained about feeling tired. I have so much respect for him.”
Club America is the alma mater to Raul Jimenez, the Fulham forward, and Christian Benitez, the former Birmingham City striker who died in 2013. Alvarez, who made 86 league appearances from 2016 to 2019, is widely considered one of their best academy graduates.
This is the story of how he honed his skills at Club America to become Mexico’s most important player, and why West Ham United missing out on other midfield targets last summer proved to be a blessing.
It has been four months since Alvarez joined West Ham from Ajax for €40million (£34.4m; $44.1m). The 26-year-old was their first summer signing and his deal extends to the summer of 2028.
When Declan Rice, West Ham’s former captain, joined Arsenal for £105million in July, manager David Moyes and his recruitment team looked at midfielders who could play the No 6 role. Their list included Joao Palhinha of Fulham, Scott McTominay of Manchester United, Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, Sofyan Amrabat, who subsequently joined Manchester United from Fiorentina on loan, as well as Alvarez.
Advertisement
Palhinha was identified as the first choice for the role because of his Premier League experience, but Fulham rejected an offer in the region of £45m. A £40m bid for Gallagher was knocked back, along with a £30m approach for McTominay. The recruitment team suggested Amrabat, but Moyes felt there were better options elsewhere.
Alvarez had been on West Ham’s radar for a few seasons but, with Rice and Tomas Soucek on the books, a deal was never pursued. Moyes’ scouts would often travel to watch Alvarez, and the feedback was consistently positive. Securing the midfielder, who attracted interest from Bayern Munich in the summer, quickly became the priority. The deal that was struck feels like a coup.
The Mexico international has adapted seamlessly to life in London, a city he had visited in his teens as a tourist, and has established himself as one of Moyes’ most important players.
View this post on Instagram
He is their only recognisable defensive midfielder in the first-team setup. He has scored once and registered two assists across 22 appearances. In his absence, and that of Mohammed Kudus, who joined Alvarez at West Ham, Ajax have laboured. They are fifth, 23 points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven. The nadir of a miserable campaign so far came last week with elimination from the KNVB Cup by fourth-tier Dutch club USV Hercules. Their loss has been West Ham’s gain.
The midfielder’s transition from Amsterdam to London has been smoother — if still a far cry from his roots back in Mexico.
Alvarez grew up in the northern suburbs of Tlalnepantla de Baz, which has a population of 750,000. As a youngster, he worked for his father, Evaristo, who ran a business which produced football shirts for local teams. Alvarez grew up idolising Ronaldinho and Rafa Marquez, both formerly of Barcelona. He was initially a striker himself, clad in the No 19 once worn by his father in the Mexican lower leagues — he seized the chance to adopt that number at West Ham last summer — and was prolific.
Advertisement
But when thrust into a more competitive environment away from home, the youngster’s progress stalled. Indeed, having been moved back into defence, he almost gave up his pursuit of a professional career in the game after the setbacks endured at his first club, Pachuca.
“I had left my house at the age of nine to follow my dream when a club came in for me,” he said. “That was a very difficult decision for my parents and for me because I was just a kid. I was there for four years and had some amazing moments but, after four years, they released me because I was still very, very small.
“I said to my parents (Evaristo and Adriana): ‘I don’t want to play football any more’.”
Alvarez was unattached for a year before, having enjoyed a growth spurt, he joined Club America after a trial. He duly impressed in the youth setup and made his senior debut in 2016 against Santos Laguna a week after his 18th birthday — and never looked back.
There were 28 appearances in all competitions in that debut season, with two goals scored en route. It was Ricardo La Volpe, Club America’s manager at the time, who gave Alvarez his big break. He recognised the youngster’s potential, and was prepared to forgive him his occasional errors.
“In Mexico, we say that a player at 18 has to learn, and where you learn is on the field,” Alvarez told ESPN. “You make mistakes. I did back then. When I started I made a lot of mistakes; I gave away a penalty against Chivas, and scored an own goal against Pachuca. But La Volpe never dropped me from the team. He always supported me.”
Peralta, too, recognised his team-mate’s talent and took the midfielder under his wing at Club America. He remembers being in awe of his qualities.
“He was a player we kept hearing about in the academy,” says Peralta. “Then, when he trained with us, he impressed everyone. That’s when I realised how talented Edson was. He always asked questions. He was keen to improve his positioning, and I liked how determined he was. Over time we forged a close bond.
Advertisement
“I’ll never forget this: I was preparing for the Confederations Cup in 2017 and the Under-20s World Cup was approaching. Edson asked me if I thought he would be considered for the tournament. I had such high hopes for him I initially thought he was talking about the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but he was talking about the Under-20s World Cup.
“That motivated Edson even more.”
Alvarez, who made his senior debut against Iceland in 2017, ended up earning his place at the senior tournament in Russia five years ago, as Peralta had envisaged. The midfielder, who has since won 74 caps, was the youngest player in Mexico’s 23-man squad. He played in every match leading up to their loss to Brazil in the round of 16.
“When Edson played for the national team, I said, ‘I told you you’d be here’,” says Peralta. “Now he’s become a very important player for Mexico. We’ve lacked leaders in the squad over the years, but Edson is a great leader for us. He could be a great captain for the team right now.
“In Mexico many of the players have nicknames. I’ve also called him ‘Flaco’ because he’s slim and tall, but fans call him ‘Machin’, which is a guy that is strong, tough and doesn’t back down.”
William da Silva, who played for Club America from 2016 to 2018, believes Alvarez’s mindset from an early age marked him out.
“The coach, Ricardo La Volpe, loved him,” says da Silva. “I spoke to Edson quite a lot. He would get annoyed when he followed a good game with a bad one. It would weigh on him. I told him to stay calm and look for consistency, because if he could find that, he was going to have a brilliant career. I told him he would captain America one day.
“He travelled a long way to training sessions but you never would have known it from the way he trained. He gave everything. So yes, that was a challenge for him, but he never used it as an excuse. On the contrary, it motivated him. It was extra gas to get him where he wanted to go. He cleared every hurdle because he had this goal.”
Advertisement
Alvarez won the Liga MX and Copa MX at Club America. It was in the 2018-19 season that Alvarez’s importance to the team was most significant, as Peralta explains.
“We won the Liguilla in 2018, but our manager Miguel Herrera and Edson had their differences,” Peralta says. “Edson was losing patience and started to get desperate at times. He told the manager how he felt and the boss said something along the lines of, ‘I respect you a lot because this tells me you really believe in yourself’. Edson ended up scoring the two goals (against Cruz Azul) that gave the club the title.
“I’m not surprised by his success because he’s worked for it. He hasn’t even reached his full potential yet. Edson has a higher ceiling.”
Da Silva concurs.
“I told him he was on the right path, that he was planting seeds for the future every day in training,” he adds. “He was a great signing for West Ham and he will make a name for himself there and in England. West Ham will receive offers for him because his game is so perfect for the modern game.
“I hope that he has a very happy career.”
(Top photo: Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)