Chivas captain Jesus Molina has jumped to the defence of teammate José Juan Macías over his form slide.

It's been claimed the Chivas striker has been unsettled by talk of major interest arriving from Europe for his services.

Olympique Marseille are being linked with Macias, while Real Sociedad, Lille and Lazio have also been mentioned.

Asked if the speculation has knocked his teammate off his game, Molina insisted: "Macías is the most professional player I have ever seen. He is a player with a different mentality, he arrives at training before everyone else, he stays to take shots on goal. For me he is a different player.

"He is certainly going to go to Europe, I see it in his mentality, I see it in his qualities and commitment.

"He is someone up front, he says things to your face and he is not afraid to say 'Molina, I think you fail in this'. He's a winner and me too, I get on a lot with him, in the sense that we don't like to lose.

"Nobody likes the frustration of losing and he is very marked, he even has his home gym to prepare. I don't see him out of focus, he wants to do things well here and then attract more attention in Europe."