Photo: Paul Rudderow

Gabriel Farfan’s trade last week to Chivas USA didn’t surprise the 24-year-old former Philadelphia Union player.

“I kind of knew I was on the trading block,” Farfan said Saturday in an interview with the Philly Soccer Page. “I actually asked for a trade. I wanted a chance to play in midfield.”

Farfan said he had asked Union manager John Hackworth after last season to play primarily in midfield, as opposed to left back, where he had started regularly for the Union for the previous year and a half. This wasn’t a new request from Farfan. He and Hackworth had talked about it several other times, Farfan said.

“I still didn’t feel too comfortable on the back line,” Farfan said. “I obviously wanted my career to be in the midfield.”

This time, Hackworth acceded to Farfan’s request and began the season with Raymon Gaddis as his starting left back. Farfan started at left midfield that day, with his brother, Michael, and Keon Daniel partnering in an attacking trio.

Danny Cruz subsequently nudged Gabriel Farfan out of the starting lineup, however. Farfan wouldn’t get another start until May 11 against Chicago, when he started at left back due to Sheanon Williams’ suspension. (Gaddis moved to right back.)

That was Farfan’s last game with the Union.

Farfan said he asked for a trade for several reasons. First, there was the lack of playing time and the fact that he saw his career not at left back but in midfield, where Hackworth recently indicated Farfan was competing against his brother for playing time.

“Obviously, any player’s looking for playing time,” Farfan said. “Any time you perform well and you’re not getting consistent playing time, it’s a bit frustrating.”

Separately, Farfan said he would like to play professionally in Mexico some day, and he thought Chivas USA would help him achieve that, with its Mexican coach and partnership with Mexican club Chivas de Guadalajara. Farfan, who is fluent in Spanish, spent 2010 playing with Club America in Mexico but only broke through with the senior team for friendly matches before leaving to join Philadelphia in 2011. He also played for Chivas USA’s youth team while still an amateur.

The clincher was probably the chance to play for Chivas USA’s manager, José Luis Sanchéz Solá, also known as “Chelís,” a previously successful coach with Puebla in Mexico who had made public his desire to acquire Farfan and his brother.

“He’s had a ton of experience in Mexico,” Farfan said of Chelis. “I wanted to play under him. I wanted to get the sense of what it would be like to be in a locker room in Mexico.”

For Farfan’s part, he had nothing but good words for the Union and Hackworth, who he called “a great coach and an awesome guy.” He described the Union locker room as one in which “everyone’s close. We’re all like brothers.”

“It’s a class organization,” Farfan said of the Union. “I had an amazing time there. Those two and a half years there were unreal. The fans were the greatest.”

While he has been separated from his twin brother, he has also reunited with midfielder Eric Avila, a childhood friend who grew up with the Farfans in San Diego.

“He’s like a brother to me and Michael,” Farfan said. “We’re like triplets.”



Farfan’s first game with Chivas didn’t go well for his team, but Farfan entered the match as a halftime sub. He completed 24 of 25 passes on the night and lost possession just twice.

He will return to PPL Park on July 12, when Chivas USA visit the Union.