EL PASO, Texas – El Paso Locomotive FC announced on Tuesday it had signed Colombian defender Martín Payares ahead of the 2022 USL Championship season, pending league and federation approval. Payares is the second new member of Locomotive FC for the 2022 USL Championship season, bolstering the defensive lineup in El Paso.

Payares comes to El Paso from the Primera A league in Colombia, where most recently he played 18 matches with 14 starts as a center back for his third stint with Boyacá Patriot. The 26-year-old Colombian native has played his entire career in the Colombian top-flight, beginning in 2015 with Cortuluá, where he made his professional debut at 19, going on to make 12 appearances, 10 of which were starts with one goal.

Since his professional debut, the six-foot central defender made 78 appearances across the Primera A. In addition to competing for Cortuluá and Boyaca Patriot, he has also seen action with Deportivo Pasto and Club Atlético Bucaramanga, recording two goals and one assist in more than 6,300 minutes of action.