Franco Pardo leaves Racing for Mexico's Santos Laguna | OneFootball

Franco Pardo could become Racing’s first sale of this transfer window at any moment. In negotiations that were kept under wraps until the final stages, Santos Laguna made a formal offer, and the club’s board would look favorably on letting go of the center-back, one of the positions where the squad currently has the most depth.

Santos Laguna’s offer to Racing for Franco Pardo

According to reports, the Mexican club has already submitted a bid close to $2,000,000 for the full transfer rights of the former Unión player, and it would be accepted. Pardo himself also views a move favorably, both to improve his financial situation and to have better chances of regular playing time. Lately, he had been more of a backup in a defense made up of Di Césare and Marcos Rojo as the starting center-backs.

So far, the 29-year-old defender has played 35 matches for Racing since arriving in mid-2025. He scored just one goal, but it was a hugely important one. Right at the end, with a header, he sent La Academia through to the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals in a 3-1 win over Peñarol at El Cilindro. It was his biggest moment at the club, although he later began to lose ground.

Franco Pardo had quickly established himself as a starter shortly after joining the club, but against Independiente Rivadavia he suffered a major setback on October 6. In the 16th minute of the second half he came on for Marcos Rojo, and nine minutes later, during a sprint, he sustained a grade-three muscle injury. As a result, he was out for more than a month, and when he returned he suffered another blow. In the final against Estudiantes in the 2025 Torneo Clausura, he missed the last penalty when his shot struck the post.

This is how he arrived in Avellaneda and the profit Racing would make

His arrival from Unión initially caused some controversy. It was not clear whether the board would pay the release clause to take him unilaterally from Santa Fe. In the end, Racing paid $1,300,000 to acquire 100% of Franco Pardo’s registration. The same amount as the clause, although it came after reaching an agreement with El Tatengue. If he is sold for $2,000,000, La Academia would make a profit of $700,000 from the year he spent at the club.

The center-back has everything agreed to move to Mexico.

For Franco Pardo to join, Unión kept $100,000 from the transfer. Instead of the $650,000 they were entitled to for 50% of the economic rights, they ended up with $750,000. The other half belonged to the player and his agent, who reportedly agreed to give up some money to make the deal happen. The advantage Racing got was that they ended up paying the transfer fee in installments.

A possible replacement in Mendoza?

The sale of Franco Pardo could be linked to the club’s search for a center-back, which the board began a few days ago. Specifically, Mateo Mendoza, a defender from Godoy Cruz. “He is one of the players being monitored by the technical department,” they told Racing de Alma from within the club. Although those at La Academia insist that there are still no advanced negotiations, in Mendoza there are already people who practically consider the player out of Tomba and into the Avellaneda club. At the very least, talks have already begun between the two clubs.

At 21 years old and 1.81 meters tall, if Racing do in fact push forward for this defender, it would be through the purchase of at least a percentage of his rights so that he could join, at a minimum, as a backup option.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.