Gacelo López isn't a great goal-scorer, but could work for Tigres

Data from Wyscout, FBRef, Golstats and Fotmob, photo from Futbol Total.

Tigres have announced the signing of Edgar Iván “Gacelo” López, the 26 year old striker. The Mexican has many years of experience in Liga MX, with Tijuana and Toluca, however, he’s never passed 1,000 minutes played in a single season.

Despite extending André-Pierre Gignac’s contract, Tigres have been keen to strengthen their options in attack this summer. I’ve previously analyzed the striker position in my “re-building Tigres” article, profiling options that could improve the squad, which you can read here:

Tigres’ attack was their main weakness during Clausura 2025. No side who made the quarter-finals had scored fewer regular season goals, and their xG (expected goals) only ranked just above league average.

If Tigres were looking for a direct solution for their lack of goals, López isn’t the right option. Gacelo simply doesn’t generate enough shots per game to be a consistent goal-scorer. Fewer than two shots per game is always a concern when analyzing a striker.

Edgar López xG and shot analysis during the previous three Liga MX seasons

However, could López improve Tigres’ attack indirectly? A second striker during much of his time with Toluca, Edgar offers more movement than the majority of Liga MX number nines, and a good ability to connect attacks. His strong ranking in the “involvement” concept comes from a high number of touches per game, combinations and progressive passes.

Percentile ranks in key striker concepts vs other players in the position | Better ranking | Worse ranking

This strength is something that Guido Pizarro lacks from current striking options. López attempts 36% more passes per game than André-Pierre Gignac, and 53% more than Nicolás Ibáñez. Gacelo receives more touches in the build-up phase than the Tigres strikers, and can also drift towards the flanks, especially to the right side during 2024-25. Gignac has always shown a tendency to move towards the left during his career, to generate shooting angles, whilst Ibáñez stays more centrally.

López could play more as a second striker with Tigres, or a right attacking-midfielder in Pizarro’s 3-4-3, but a role as their central striker also seems an interesting option given their profiles in the squad. Many of Tigres’ key attacking-midfielders and wingers are more effective at generating their own shots than creating for teammates.

Of the five Tigres attacking-midfielders with more than 500 minutes played during Clausura 2025, three average more shots per game than key passes.

Shot and key pass analysis per game in 2024-25, Tigres attacking-midfielders.

Ángel Correa, who’s expected to join Pizarro’s side in the coming days, also isn’t a great chance creator, but has been a frequent goal-scorer.

López may be the type of striker to get the most out of Tigres’ attacking-midfielders, and to improve the collective. His movement can generate doubts for center-backs, and spaces for other Tigres attackers to move into. Playing with a “false-nine” as a striker isn’t easy, but it’s been an effective strategy for high possession teams in recent years. PSG, Champions League winners this year, is a great example, with Ousmane Dembele playing through the middle and causing huge problems with his movement towards the ball and out wide.

López’s dropping movements could also help Tigres in their transition to becoming a high possession team once again. This is a stated goal of Pizarro, but could prove difficult given the lack of a tempo-controlling, press resistant pivot in the squad. Gacelo can offer an extra player to help in the build-up phase and connect attacks, as long as opposing center-backs don’t follow his movement towards the ball.

Gacelo López is not the perfect striker for Tigres. However, he’s Mexican, still has time to develop his box movement and positioning in order to get more shots off per match, and his style seems to suit the Tigres squad. With López, Tigres have added a striker who moves more frequently towards the ball and out wide, which could aid their attacking build-up, and create more space for their goal-scoring attacking-midfielders.

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