Thriving in his first season in Major League Soccer, Colorado Rapids defender Edgar Castillo would like to remain with the team after his one-year loan ends after the 2018 season.
Castillo, a 31-year-old U.S. international who was born in Las Cruces, N.M., joined the Rapids on a one-year loan with the option to buy from Liga MX side Monterrey.
"I would not like to go back to Monterrey, because I do not want to go back to Mexico now," Castillo said in Spanish during an interview with newspaper Diario AS published Thursday. "I am very comfortable here, playing, enjoying it, with the confidence of the coach and having football that maybe I could not play recently.
"It's nothing to do with Mexico. And I'm still from Monterrey, but I would not like to go back just because I'm comfortable here. I wanted to come to raise my level and I have achieved it with that confidence and support that they give me. Now I enjoy it here more than there because I'm playing."
An attacking left back, Castillo has started 22 of the Rapids' 24 games this season, collecting three goals (tied for second-most on the team) and a team-high five assists.
He's coming off perhaps his best game of the season, having contributed to two second-half equalizers to salvage a 2-2 draw with the LA Galaxy on Tuesday. Castillo scored in the 74th minute -- with a rocket to the top right corner -- to make it 1-1 and then assisted on Niki Jackson's goal that made it 2-2 eight minutes later.
Castillo has 18 caps for the U.S. men's national team.
Despite Castillo's productive season, the Rapids (24 points) sit second-to-last in the Western Conference standings and 11 points off the playoff line.