The announcement, when it came, was a surprise. A year after returning to Sacramento Republic FC – the club he had claimed the USL Championship Final with during the 2014 season – Rodrigo Lopez was a free agent.

Yet the 32-year-old Santa Barbara, California native’s departure has done nothing to quell his desire to claim another trophy before calling time on his playing career, and his lethal combination of passion and talent could make him one of the more intriguing options for a club looking to bolster their 2021 title ambitions.

“I want to go somewhere where it’s a serious club and it’s going to compete for maybe the top of the league and the top of their division,” said Lopez recently. “If you have a good team and a good locker room, you can go a long, long way. I just want to be at a good place with good people, and somewhere I can compete.”

With his experience in both the Championship and Liga MX – where he competed for both Toluca and Veracruz – the 32-year-old has plenty in his creative arsenal. Lopez is closing in on 30 career assists in the Championship – a title he once held before being surpassed during four seasons in Mexico – and recorded 26 chances created in 948 minutes last campaign, an average of one every 35.5 minutes.

But as his career has progressed, Lopez has also prided himself on being more of a two-way player and sees himself ideally in a box-to-box midfield position.

“I think I’m still mobile enough to play there and I love to attack,” he said. “Obviously, my traits are attacking and creating opportunities for a team, but I like to defend and help my team in that form. I feel like that’s my best trait.”

While West Coast clubs have been Lopez’s main destinations so far, he’s also not going to close the door on a potential offer from an Eastern Conference side.

“Being closer to home, being closer to family especially with my kids and wife, it would be a lot easier for my wife to see our family in California,” he said. “But, like I said, I just want to finish off my career in a good way, around good people and a good team and good players and staff and just have fun these last few years I have left in me. I just want to have fun and compete and try to win another USL Championship.”

So, where might a good landing spot for Lopez be? Here are three potential options.

If there’s a club where Lopez and the philosophy that’s been established previously would seem to fit hand in glove, it’s El Paso Locomotive FC. Head Coach Mark Lowry’s side has established itself as a title contender quickly, recording consecutive trips to the Western Conference Final of the USL Championship Playoffs in its first two seasons while completing more passes than any other side in the regular season (20,384) since the start of the 2019 campaign.

Lopez’s ability to connect in the middle of the field – last season he sported an 84.2 passing success rate on 62 passes per 90 minutes – would seem to make him a good option to add where both the new player and side around him wouldn’t miss a beat finding their tempo. It might not be the final piece as El Paso looks for its first silverware, but it could be a very useful one.

There are a couple of caveats that come attached to this, the biggest of which is the direction Rio Grande Valley FC chooses to go in its Head Coaching search after the restructuring of its partnership agreement with the Houston Dynamo. With that said, bringing in a veteran player of Lopez’s quality and experience would be a big move that would not only resonate on the field, but also in the local market as the club looks to get fans excited and engaged for the 2021 season.

The 32-year-old would give the Toros a player they can build around who will also provide the leadership that can help build a new culture at the club. As we’ve seen numerous times in recent years, fortunes can change quickly in the Championship. With their new independence, the Toros should be revving the engines hard this offseason to get back to the success they had in their inaugural season in 2016.

Two seasons in, Birmingham Legion FC has reached the postseason twice and has looked solid in the process. If there was a statistic that stood out from its 2020 campaign, however, it was that the club’s shot conversion rate during the regular season of 22.8 percent sat third in the league – well above the league average of 16.2 percent – but the club ranked in the bottom-third of the league in Chances Created with 126 – below the league average of 145.9.

If that suggests anything, it’s that if Birmingham wants to maintain its attacking potency and find another level in its third campaign it may need more creativity in the final third. That’s something that Lopez can offer, and with the youthful exuberance of Bruno Lapa also set to be back in Birmingham next season alongside the attacking ability of Neco Brett it could add another dimension to what Head Coach Tom Soehn’s side could offer. If there’s an Eastern Conference team that feels like a fit for Lopez, Legion FC is it.