Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are having a lovely week and that you are nearing the finish line heading into the weekend.

Vancouver Whitecaps wrapped up their European working holiday in style, besting Swedish side IF Brommapojkarna. Jayden Nelson and Ali Ahmed tallied the two goals in a 2-0 win and both of those guys getting on the scoresheet was a very welcome sight.

With any luck, the Caps will have a new player to join them in banging in goals. Vancouver is reportedly nearing a $1 million-ish signing of Emmanuel Sabbi, an American forward playing in France for Le Havre.

You can find the link to Caleb’s deep dive on Sabbi below, which provides a nice rundown on Sabbi’s somewhat iconoclastic background and what his arrival might mean for the Caps.

Sabbi typically plays as a right winger but seemingly can play anywhere across the front three. That makes him a potential Fafa Picault replacement.

He doesn’t seem quite as pacey as Fafa but seems like a decent, well-rounded attacking player. His track record in Europe is a bit tough to evaluate, as he has played almost exclusively for bad teams. Le Havre, for instance, is dead last in Ligue 1 and looks a solid bet to be relegated.

That being said, it does seem like a bit of a bet to bank on Sabbi going from a guy who typically nets 6-7 goals/assists per year to a guy who matches Fafa’s output last year. His banner year was in 2022-23 for Odense in Denmark, when he bagged 12 g+a and that seems like it is probably the high water mark.

He has barely played this year, so I’m not overly concerned about his 0 goals thus far. Even still, he seems like a physical player who has a good work rate, even as his attacking output has dipped.

I don’t see Sabbi as a bad signing, however. I can’t imagine he will hit the books anywhere near DP level and he is domestic, something the Caps badly need. This feels like the backup plan for Matthew Hoppe more than a replacement for Stuart Armstrong. And it is worth remembering that the Caps scooped Andres Cubas off a relegation-level Ligue 1 side. So I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibility that Sabbi levels up in MLS.

This can’t be the last area the Caps improve the team (and given that they have their one or two U-22 slots left, I doubt it is). Sabbi seems like a solid depth piece. It is worth remembering how bad the Caps were when Ryan Gauld left on international duty and how little attacking depth they really had last year. I wouldn’t bank on Sabbi being a match winner but he seems like a nice upgrade on Levonte Johnson, particularly at this price point. And it saves the international slots for rolling the dice on a guy with a higher ceiling for one of the U-22 positions.

Shameless Self Promotion

Caleb runs down what the Emmanuel Sabbi signing might mean and how we should think about it. If that deal falls through, Caleb also has some ideas for other sensible transfer targets at the striker position. And the podcast looks at how the lads are adjusting to the new tactical setup.

Best of the Rest

More of the details of the Sabbi transfer, which have been leaking into the French media.

Columbus Crew are scrambling to replace perennial MVP candidate Cucho Hernandez, who is headed to Real Betis in Spain.

Cavalry earned a famous victory in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, upsetting Pumas at Starlight 2-1. Now they will look to seal the deal in Mexico next week. Forge didn’t have the same luck against Monterrey.

Northern Super League players are beginning to trickle into Casey Stoney’s first Canadian Women’s National Team squad.