MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact this past week made their first big splash on the transfer front of the off-season with the acquisition of Uruguayan forward Santiago González.
González, 21, hails from Uruguayan first division side Sud America where he spent the last three seasons. After leading Sud America to promotion from the second division in the 2012-2013 campaign, Gonzalez was the team’s leading scorer with five goals from 14 games in last year’s Apertura—the first-half of the current season which ended in December.
Impact’s sporting director Nick De Santis hopes González can offer a different look to the team’s attack in 2014.
“Santiago is a young striker that has already played three professional seasons,” De Santis said. “He is a dynamic forward that moves very well and can play with his back to the goal. It will take a bit of time to adapt, but I think he can bring a different element to the team.”
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The arrival of Gonzalez is welcomed news, as the Impact were in desperate need of reinforcements up front since Marco Di Vaio and Andrew Wenger were the only forwards remaining in the roster after last season. The need to sign a forward was further accentuated by the fact that Di Vaio will be missing the first three games of this coming year due to suspension and that Wenger hasn’t yet shown that he’s capable of being a reliable replacement.
Di Vaio also has never really had a partner at Montreal that could read his movements and complement his qualities. De Santis description of González as a “dynamic forward” and one who could play with his “back to goal” will be welcome news for Di Vaio who excels more when running in behind defences and playing the role of poacher, rather than when checking back towards the ball, fighting off defenders and laying the ball off for teammates.
Though Di Vaio had an excellent season last year leading the line, one of the drawbacks with having to play with him alone up front is that he’s not very good at holding up the ball and helping the team in possession. As was often the case last year when playing with Di Vaio in the 4-2-3-1, the Impact were, more often than not, forced to play the ball direct on the counter after retrieving possession.
Having a strong “back to goal” player will help the team keep the ball more and give it a breather, which often proves invaluable when playing away from home and you want to soak up the home side’s pressure.
The Impact could also really make use of some variety in its attacking movement, which by the end of last season had become one dimensional and predictable.
González was expected to be signed as a Designated Player, but has been signed as a Special Discovery instead—an obscure MLS rule which means that only a small portion of Gonzalez’ contract will fall under the salary cap.
“It (special discovery) means that the league acquires a young player and that the contract is amortized (over several seasons) so the player’s cap hit reaches between $125,000 and $150,000, give or take,” De Santis told assembled media on Thursday. “That helps the team a lot”.
The major signings that Toronto FC and other Eastern Conference sides have managed to accumulate this off-season has put pressure on the Impact to respond with some quality signings of their own. De Santis explained at the beginning of camp that the Impact would only have space to add one or two signings to improve the roster.
Given that González is a special discovery, the Impact will now have room to add another strong piece, potentially a third designated player, which makes Gonzalez signing all the better if he can live up to his promise.
Nick Sabetti is a Montreal-based writer. Follow him on Twitter.