Eight months after becoming a U.S. international, Miguel Ibarra finally is a top-flight player as well.
The U.S. national team midfielder sealed a move to Liga MX side Club Leon on Wednesday, ending a four-season stint with Minnesota United of the second-tier NASL.
Ibarra has received three caps since October, when he became the first player from a lower-level North American team to earn a U.S. call-up in a decade. The 25-year-old winger was an unused substitute for the Americans' 2-1 upset of Germany in Cologne on Wednesday and was omitted from the team's 35-man provisional Gold Cup roster released before the game.
The 2014 NASL Golden Ball winner joins a Leon midfield that includes veterans such as Luis Montes and Carlos "Gullit" Pena. Leon won the 2013 Apertura and 2014 Clausura titles back to back but has missed out on the Liga MX postseason in the two tournaments since.
He wasn't the only American on the move during Liga MX's draft day. Greg Garza left Club Tijuana for Atlas, where he will replace Monterrey-bound Edgar Castillo. Jonathan Bornstein also made a permanent move to Queretaro, where he had been playing on loan from Tigres, while Joe Corona is leaving Tijuana for Veracruz.
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