JORDAN HARVEY IS BLACK & GOLD
LAFC have added a healthy dose of MLS experience to their squad, the incoming expansion club announced that they’ve signed veteran left back Jordan Harvey via free agency. Harvey, who will turn 34 on Jan. 28, announced the move on his Twitter account.
Harvey spent the last seven years with the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Southern California native was a fixture for the ‘Caps, recording 10 goals and nine assists in 179 regular season appearances. Prior to joining Vancouver, Harvey spent a year and half with Philadelphia and four seasons with Colorado.
“Jordan has established himself in MLS, and his knowledge of the league is going to be invaluable to us as we build our club,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “I look forward to his leadership and the stability he provides both on and off the pitch.”
TIMBERS DIP INTO COSTA RICAN MARKET
It is the growing trend for Costa Ricans to fill MLS squads and Portland Timbers have announced that they signed Costa Rican international centre back Julio Cascante from Saprissa. They have used Targeted Allocation Money to complete the transfer.
Cascante, 24, is the third player to move to Portland from Saprissa in the last year, joining midfielder David Guzman and defender Roy Miller, both of whom signed with the Timbers prior to the 2017 campaign.
Cascante is the first signing of the offseason for the Timbers, who parted ways with head coach Caleb Porter and appointed Giovanni Savarese to the post.
ZIEGLER IS MLS BOUND!
FC Dallas have continued their defensive makeover as they announced they’ve signed 31-year-old defender Reto Ziegler from Swiss first division side FC Luzern.
It was first reported on New Years Day that he was considering MLS as an option and credit to FC Dallas, they have moved quickly to secure Ziegler’s signature. He has 34 international caps with Switzerland, he was a part of the country’s squad at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. An important experienced acquisition, he joins Dallas following the club’s December trade of centre back Walker Zimmerman to LAFC.
D.C. UNITED STRENGTHEN MIDFIELD
Venezuelan box-to-box midfielder Junior Moreno has signed for D.C. United from Zulia FC. The story was first broke by the Washington Post’s Steve Goff before it was confirmed by the club themselves.
Interestingly his father, Carlos Horacio Moreno, is an Argentinean coach who has worked in Venezuela for more than three decades and has led Zulia since 2014.
United, who finished in the Eastern Conference basement in 2017, have already made several transfer moves this winter, signing Costa Rican midfielder Ulises Segura and acquiring Frederic Brillant and Darren Mattocks in trades.
Any Other Business…
Former Argentina World Cup winner and experienced South American manager Claudio Borghi is intrigued by the possibility of managing in MLS, it appears Gerardo Martino may have set a trend… ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle claims that Red Bulls captain Sacha Kljestan is headed to Orlando in exchange for attacker Carlos Rivas, defender Tommy Redding and $150,000 in Targeted Allocation Money… Former Montreal Impact player Ambroise Oyongo has signed with French Ligue 1 club Montpellier… New England Revolution have signed 17-year-old midfielder Isaac Angking to a Homegrown contract, the club have announced.