Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are having a lovely week and that a well-deserved break is in your future.

The Whitecaps have touched down in Marbella for their pre-season camp, with few surprises in the lineup, which features a healthy dose of Whitecaps 2 and academy products in addition to one trialist, American keeper Adrian Zendejas, who most recently plied his trade in the Swedish second division.

One assumes this is a low-risk punt on a guy to be the Joe Bendik replacement — a cheap, domestic backup who can be the break glass in case of emergency option, allowing Isaac Boehmer to get minutes for the reserve side and to provide some mentorship in the keeper room.

But it sounds like the Caps are adding a more substantive piece to their roster for 2025. Tom Bogert has confirmed Mexican reports that Vancouver are adding Uruguayan forward Anderson Duarte on loan from Toluca, seemingly with an option to buy.

Looking at the Twitter feed of the Mexican media member who first reported this, it looks like Toluca have maxed out the number of non-Mexican players they can have on their team and Duarte, who arrived for around $5 million last year, is a casualty.

If this pans out, it would be an excellent signing and probably would be a player that would be about as MLS ready as you could find for a U-22 spot.

Duarte broke out at the U20 World Cup in 2023, when the Uruguay side won the competition. He has also gotten some call ups to the full national team.

If his name sounds familiar, it’s because Portland were sniffing around to sign him from Defensor Sporting over the summer before he moved to Toluca.

It is safe to say Duarte’s time in Toluca didn’t go all too well, with him scoring one goal in 131 minutes during the Apertura. That goals per minute probably won’t extrapolate out over more minutes played but there clearly is talent there. His tally of 14 goals in 44 starts is probably a more helpful guide to what the Caps could expect.

YouTube highlight reels often make guys seem like they are good crossers, good 1v1 and pacey but that’s what Duarte looks like after watching his compilations. He also seems to cope well with physicality and have a good work rate, things which often point to a player being a good fit for MLS. He is typically a right winger but it looks like he could play more centrally or on the left wing. The Caps love a player who can play multiple positions so this also makes sense.

If I had to guess, this move doesn’t preclude signing a more veteran forward as a replacement for Fafa Picault (Johnny Russell remains unsigned …). This instead feels like the Deiber Caicedo replacement. And given that it would be a loan with a buy option, it is as low risk as you could ask for. If he improves upon his brief showing in Liga MX and shows real promise, you smash that buy option next year. If not, then there is no long term roster building damage and you can find someone else to fill the U-22 spot next summer.

I had pretty low expectations for the U-22 initiative signing given that Edier Ocampo has barely featured. This, however, smashes whatever hopes I had out of the water. I don’t know that a 20-year-old is going to have a transformative impact on Vancouver’s attack next season but Duarte is a solid piece that has shown he can contribute right away. Hopefully this one does in fact get over the line.

Shameless Self Promotion

Its all things Jesper Sorensen this week on the blogosphere. Sam Rowan runs down the initial impressions of the new manager and the podcast is joined by Danish journalist Toke Theilade to help us North Americans understand what to expect.

Best of the Rest

More on the Caps’ reported interest in Duarte, which would be the first real signing of the offseason (SuperDraft picks aside).

The Chicago Fire are reportedly one of a few teams interested in signing Neymar, who is running out of options after playing sparingly in Saudi Arabia.

MLS has a host of new roster rules, the most interesting is the introduction of a cash transfer market in MLS (think Chelsea buying Cole Palmer for cold hard cash, not Garberbucks). That could shape where Evander and Lucho Acosta wind up.

Club Brugge is reportedly in for Vancouver FC’s teenager stud Grady McDonnell, an exciting move for the Irish youngster.