The Canada national team is reportedly exploring the possibility of poaching 22-year-old Canadian born Mexico international Marcelo Flores.

The Athletic report that Canada have held talks with Flores recently, eyeing a potential call-up to train with the national team during its upcoming November camp.

Flores decided to represent Mexico—where his father was born—back in 2021 when he was a member of Arsenal’s youth system. He earned his first senior cap for El Tri on Dec. 9, 2021 in a friendly match against Chile, but has since managed just three appearances for Mexico and only one in an official match.

Since the arrival of Javier Aguirre to Mexico’s touchline after the 2024 Copa América, Flores has been included in just one of his rosters. Aguirre called-up Flores to his first squad after returning as manager in Sept. 2024, but the attacker didn’t play a single minute in the first two games of the Aguirre era.

Marcelo Flores
Marcelo Flores last played for Mexico on June 11, 2022. | Alfredo Estrell/AFP/Getty Images

With less than three official appearances for Mexico, Flores is still able to file a one-time switch with FIFA to represent Canada, prompting Jesse Marsch’s side to keep a watchful eye on his situation.

The report also states that Flores’s involvement in Canada’s November camp has decreased in likelihood recently, potentially given his poor form at the club level.

Marcelo Flores’s Recent Struggles

Flores shined during his time in Arsenal’s youth academy, sharing a dressing room with players such as Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Mikel Arteta even named him to matchday squads during the 2021–22 season, but he never made his senior debut with the Gunners.

After an inglorious loan spell with Real Oviedo, Tigres persuaded Flores to leave Europe to join Liga MX in Sept. 2023.

Flores has struggled in Liga MX, bagging just 11 goals and four assists in 71 appearances since making his debut with Tigres. This season, the dual-national has started just one game and has four appearances overall through 16 matches in the Apertura 2025.

The once exciting young gem that plenty of El Tri fans placed their hopes in has failed to meet the lofty expectations his youth career generated.

Less than four years after there were calls for Flores to make Mexico’s 2022 FIFA World Cup roster, it wouldn’t be a surprise that, if he ever plays at the international level again, it would be donning Canada’s shirt.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mexico National Team at Risk of Losing Arsenal Academy Graduate to Canada—Report.

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