ARLINGTON, Texas — With a brilliant smile, a carefully-kept beard, and the curls that give him the “Chino” nickname, it’s easy to see why César Huerta is quickly becoming one of Mexico’s most beloved players.

On the field, the 23-year-old winger plays a style that draws supporters in even more, trying to pull off bold dribbles and always looking to score.

His fan base and his career could’ve been supercharged this summer. Liverpool looked to sign the Pumas winger and loan him to Sunderland where they’d keep a close eye on his development. It’s the type of move any young player would look forward to, and Huerta was all set to move from Mexico City to North East England.

“I had the suitcase packed, and it fell through for various reasons,” Huerta said Tuesday after Mexico’s scoreless draw with Canada.

Despite the botched transfer, Huerta remained optimistic, though he acknowledged that the Liverpool move might have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“I’m 100 percent with Pumas, and I know that sooner or later if I keep doing things well, the opportunity will come for me," he said.

“A lot of times it’s a train that only passes once, and right now I’m focused on Pumas. I come into the national team and try to do the best possible to help the team. Everything else I know will sort itself out soon.”

It’s quite the rise for Huerta, a Guadalajara native who couldn’t break through with hometown club Chivas after developing in their academy. Between his November 2018 debut and his departure in 2022, he spent most of his time on loan, either in the second division or playing with teams not contending for Liga MX playoff places.

That changed when he went to Pumas in the summer of 2022. Huerta made a few cameos off the bench but quickly earned the confidence of manager Andres Lillini and only became more critical to the squad when Antonio Mohamed arrived as manager and built much of his attack around the craft winger with a curly mane.

He announced his ascendancy as a star in December 2023, when he faced his former team in a Liguilla quarterfinal series. After putting Pumas up 2-1 on aggregate over Chivas, he revealed an undershirt that said “Remade in CU," the Ciudad Universitaria where Pumas play on the UNAM campus. It was a nod to then Mexico manager Jaime Lozano’s “Made in CU” shirt he wore in 2004 as Pumas charged to back-to-back titles.

It was clear. Huerta wanted to be connected to the club’s long line of stars and felt he was a new man thanks to his move from Guadalajara to Pumas.

Huerta fits into the canon of Pumas’ swaggering standouts that include Hugo Sanchez, Jorge Campos, and Cabinho. A confident dribbler, Huerta is happy to take players on, especially when he gets the ball played to his feet in wide areas. Comfortable in tight spaces as well, Huerta finishes well with both his dominant right foot and his left. Huerta has 15 league goals with Pumas.

While it could throw off plenty of players, Huerta insists the Liverpool links and interest from other clubs won’t distract him from his goal of lifting a trophy with Pumas, securing a place with the Mexico national team and earning a move to a top European club.

“Mentally I’m pushing ahead, knowing it’s not easy,” Huerta said. “I now know I have to work doubly hard to be able to make this dream I have come true.”

Huerta made it clear he wants to be part of Javier Aguirre's squad when the 2026 World Cup takes. “It’s the dream of every player who comes and puts on the national team shirt,” he said.

Huerta had a good first match of the September international window, coming in and scoring as a substitute against New Zealand in a 3-0 victory.

That earned a start in Tuesday’s match against Canada, against a more physically imposing team with a backline full of players on the rise. Huerta was much more bottled up, though he did create a chance and put a shot on goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair’s goal, which was saved.

“I try to be critical of myself,” Huerta said. “A lot of times a player knows when you’ve done well or didn’t do something. It was tough for Canada and tough for us to generate more chances. I think the game was really tough for both teams. That’s normal. All this is high-level, the elite, so we’ve got to keep getting better to generate those chances.”

Should he continue to improve on those details, Huerta will do with El Tri what he did at Pumas: Become a more and more critical piece until he’s the star. It may earn a move abroad, where that hair and that smile will only serve to increase his growing swarm of fans.

After returning from international duty, Huerta could be called upon when Pumas travel to Estadio Victoria to face Hollywood star-backed Club Necaxa on Sept. 13.

Mexico return to action on Oct. 12 with a rare club vs. national team friendly against Valencia.