San Diego FC Make Shock Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano Decision After Dramatic End to 2025

The forward’s form with San Diego FC brought him back into the Mexico national team picture.

Hirving "Chucky" Lozano was benched near the end of his time with San Diego FC. / Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images

San Diego FC do not have Mexican star attacker Hirving “Chucky” Lozano in their plans for the 2026 MLS season, sporting director Tyler Heaps revealed on Friday. 

Reconvening for the start of preseason in California, Heaps addressed reporters and stated that the 30-year-old, who joined the club in a reported $12 million deal from PSV Eindhoven ahead of its 2025 expansion season, would not return for a second campaign.

“We have communicated with Hirving and his representatives that he will not be part of the sporting plans moving forward,” Heaps said. “That was not a decision that was taken lightly and that was something that was well talked through from owners down to leadership and to myself and Mikey Varas and has been communicated with the rest of the group.

“We’re working with him and his representatives to find the best solution for him moving forward.”

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Lozano’s exit comes after an unceremonious end to 2025, which saw him benched for the final game of the regular season and the club’s first-ever MLS Cup playoff match due to what Varas called “a situation we’re dealing with internally.”

According to previous reports from The Athletic, Lozano was displeased with being taken off the pitch as a substitute in an October match against the Houston Dynamo, leading to an altercation that soured the relationship between the two parties. 

Lozano, capped 75 times for the Mexico national team, ends his time with the newest MLS club with nine goals and 10 assists in 27 regular-season appearances. The forward played a significant role in helping the side finish atop the Western Conference standings and advance to the Western Conference final. 

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Anders Dreyer’s Importance

Anders Dreyers (left) became the most important player for San Diego FC instead of Hirving Lozano (right). / Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

While Lozano brought instant recognition for San Diego FC in the marketplace and around the world in the club’s first season, the team’s most crucial player quickly became Danish winger Anders Dreyer.

As Lozano struggled for fitness, Dreyer got off to a hot start and continued his form throughout the season, earning MLS Newcomer of the Year honors and garnering MLS MVP votes after posting 19 goals and 19 assists while playing every one of the season’s 34 games. 

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Dreyer’s importance in the attack has now become a more central focus, with no other star like Lozano in the plans. At the same time, when the club officially parts with the Mexcian star, it will be able to add a separate Designated Player—potentially a striker—to elevate Dryer’s threats from the wing. 

“Our focus is always on the collective, and it's about pushing the team chemistry this year,” Varas said on Friday. “We’ve played plenty of games with the team, without him in the roster, and that team played very well.”

San Diego FC host CF Montréal to open the 2026 MLS season on Feb. 21, after kicking off their competitive schedule with the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup against Liga MX’s Pumas UNAM on Feb. 3.  

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