It is becoming impossible to separate San Diego FC’s first real stretch of adversity from a player supposedly no longer in the picture.
Hirving “Chucky” Lozano arrived as the club’s first superstar, an expensive symbol of ambition for an expansion team that wanted to make a good first impression.
Now, as SDFC stumbles through the roughest patch of its young life in Major League Soccer, Lozano has become something else entirely — an unused designated player, a training-ground exile and a growing source of frustration for a fanbase searching for answers.
After San Diego’s 2-1 loss to Portland at Snapdragon Stadium two weeks ago, chants of “Chucky Lozano” could be heard from frustrated supporters in the stands.
Last Saturday, during SDFC’s rivalry match against LAFC, one fan took the message up a notch.
Early in the match, a plane circled above Snapdragon carrying a banner that read: “#FreeChucky = More Wins.”
“I had a friend that owed me a favor,” said Abraham Teran, 45, an original SDFC season-ticket holder and owner of Projx2Print, which has shops in Chula Vista and Serra Mesa and a satellite location in La Jolla. “I had to explain it to my wife afterward. I just made sure I got home really late when she was asleep.
“My phone was blowing up: ‘What did you do? Are you trying to get us in trouble and lose our tickets or something?’ ”
Teran laughed about the reaction, but the message behind the stunt was serious.
“I’m a big-time passionate supporter of San Diego FC,” Teran said. “I believe everybody should have a voice. I want to make it clear this isn’t a personal attack on the club itself. I love the club. I love the team. I guess what people really want is transparency — and the long-term success of the club.”
Lozano was suspended in October following a halftime run-in with coach Mikey Varas. Several players supported the club’s decision. Lozano later apologized for the 2025 altercation and worked his way back onto the active roster, though his minutes came mostly off the bench.
Entering this season, the club announced it was moving on from Lozano. General manager Tyler Heaps said the team would try to trade Lozano and find him the playing time needed to help his push for a spot on Mexico’s World Cup team.
Almost three months into SDFC’s second MLS season, Lozano remains on the roster. He is still occupying a designated player slot. He is still training separately at the team’s facility in El Cajon. And he is still not playing.
As SDFC’s attack searches for answers and the club navigates a nine-match winless run across all competitions, fans like Teran see one of the team’s most talented players sitting unused. SDFC is 3-5-3 heading into Saturday’s match against the Sounders (6-1-2) in Seattle.
“Look at what we accomplished last year. It was great,” Teran said. “I just feel like there’s a void. There’s a big void right now on the team. There’s something that might have happened in the locker room, I guess, or there’s a lot of speculation. It’s only led to speculation because of the transparency that’s lacking.
“I know there are always issues in every organization, but this is about trying to work it out for the betterment of the team and the fans.”
Varas has been firm when asked about a potential Lozano return. His answer: There is “no chance.”
Still, the situation continues to hover over the club. Teran said he has heard from SDFC supporters all across the country who either want Lozano brought back into the fold or simply want the situation resolved.
“When he first came, they glorified him,” Teran said. “And a lot of people bought tickets just because of him. So when they got tickets and started showing up, then one day you say, ‘He’s not going to be here anymore. This is what we decided,’ and then all of a sudden, he’s not there anymore.
“There are a lot of people still wearing No. 11 jerseys to the game today. It’s hard to miss. It’s really hard to miss.”
The club’s position appears unchanged. Lozano’s camp remains in limbo. And supporters are left to fill the silence with speculation, chants and, now, airborne protest banners.
“Things may look a little rough and rocky, but I’m sure things will come around,” Teran said. “I’m optimistic. We all want the same thing. We’re all on the same team.
“If you put me in a room with Chucky Lozano and coach Mikey Varas, I swear 100% something good is going to come out of that. And we won’t even need a tequila bottle.”
For now, though, Lozano remains out of sight, but not out of the conversation.
As SDFC keeps searching for wins, the biggest question surrounding the club has begun circling overhead.
Jacob Jackson
Injury bug bites again
CJ dos Santos’ return to the pitch lasted only long enough to remind San Diego what it had been missing.
Dos Santos made his long-awaited season debut against LAFC only to exit in the 98th minute, when Denis Bouanga’s sliding foot caught him flush in the face as the SDFC goalkeeper made a crucial save.
Dos Santos had not appeared since Nov. 1, when he sustained a fractured cheekbone and orbital floor below his left eye during a playoff match against the Portland Timbers.
“C.J. has a nose injury,” Varas said Thursday. “It shouldn’t be long-term, but it’s also definitely not a quick turnaround, so he just needs to focus on his recovery, to be able to play again and regain his rhythm, because he was heading in a really good direction.”
The injury forced San Diego to add cover this week, signing free-agent goalkeeper Jacob Jackson to a contract guaranteed through 2026 with a club option for the 2027 season
For Jackson, it is a return home and a return to familiar surroundings. The 26-year-old San Diego native previously joined SDFC as a Stage 1 selection in the 2024 MLS re-entry draft and was part of the club’s inaugural-season roster last year.