The Earthquakes have acquired a new lead striker as they remake their roster under Bruce Arena, adding Chicho Arango from Real Salt Lake on Saturday via a trade for $1.4 million in general allocation money and a 2026 international player slot.
Arango, 29, led Major League Soccer in scoring midway through the season before a four-game suspension derailed things.
The Medellín, Colombia native had 17 goals and 11 assists in his first 22 games, then was suspended on July 15 for violating the league’s anti-harassment policy in an unspecified incident. He had one assist and no goals in 10 games (including the playoffs and one Leagues Cup match) after returning.
“I’m very excited for this new challenge in San Jose, together with everyone at the club, all of the fans and my family,” Arango said in a statement released by the club.
RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni hinted at mental hurdles for Arango over the second half of the season, saying he and Arango talked “ad nauseam” hoping to get him back to form.
“I left every conversation thinking to myself, ‘I don’t know if I reached him.’ And if I did, I don’t know the depth of what he’s going through,” Mastroeni told the Salt Lake Tribune at the end of the season.
Arango, who will occupy a designated player spot, arrived in Salt Lake midway through the 2023 season from Pachuca of Liga MX, where he had five goals and two assists in 11 matches. He had six goals in 11 games for Real to end that season before his red-hot start to 2024.
Before heading to Mexico, he spent a year and a half at Los Angeles FC, scoring 30 goals in 51 matches and winning the league’s Newcomer of the Year award in 2021 and the MLS Cup in 2022. Earlier in his career, he spent time in Spain and Portugal.
Arango is the latest in a series of changes for the Quakes after bringing in Arena, the MLS all-time wins leader, as coach and sporting director.
They let striker Jeremy Ebobisse enter free agency, making room up top for Arango, and allowed captain and midfielder Jackson Yueill to leave.
The general allocation money will break down to $700,000 each of the next two seasons. They sent $500,000 in 2025 GAM and a 2025 international slot to New England last month in exchange for center back Dave Romney and midfielders Mark-Anthony Kaye and Ian Harkes. They also brought back defender and Castro Valley native Nick Lima from the Revolution in free agency five seasons after he left San Jose in a trade.
