Mexico international Marcelo Flores is currently working out the final details of joining a training camp for Canada‘s national team as an unofficial call-up for this month’s friendlies, a source confirmed to ESPN.
According to the source, the decision is “more than likely” to go through for Flores, who was born in Canada, to arrive as a training player that will “go to see the environment, see the project. Canada has done a great job of obviously tailoring to him and making sure that he feels valued.”
Flores, 22, was previously involved in a push-and-pull between Mexico and Canada before making his senior debut for El Tri in 2021. Since then, he’s made a total of three appearances for Mexico, but has yet to earn minutes for the senior national team since 2022.
A one-time switch is still required for the player if he was to decide to officially represent Canada over Mexico in the future. The source told ESPN that there has been “a lot of communication” between Marcelo and Canada’s federation.
On Nov. 13, the Conacaf side will host Ecuador in Toronto, before facing Venezuela on Nov. 18 in Fort Lauderdale.
Flores, a product of the Arsenal academy, went on loan to Real Oviedo in 2022, before joining Liga MX‘s Tigres in 2023.
This is not the first time Flores has debated over where to commit his international future. In May of 2022, after debating between playing for Canada or Mexico, he wrote on social media he would represent El Tri “wholeheartedly for the rest of my professional life.”
The Athletic was the first to report the news.
