So, your DP left and you need to replace him on short notice? Do not fear; Sensible Whitecaps Transfers is here! This edition focuses on a replacement for Stuart Armstrong. What we are looking for is somebody who provides a mixture of ball progression and shot creation from central areas. Here is the long list (consult the “Strikers” edition if you want to know how this list is generated).

Taking a bird’s eye view, the only real oddity of this group of players is that there are relatively few players in the 3-4 million range and as such few DP candidates. But there is a good spread of U-22 and senior roster player options. Let’s take a look at some of those options.

U-22: Alexis Fariña/20/Cerro Porteño

A 20-year-old putting up some solid numbers for a regional South American power? This guy was grown in a lab to be an MLS U-22 initiative player. Fariña hasn’t played a huge number of professional minutes but enough to take his numbers seriously. He’s creating a lot of shots and doing decent ball progression from midfield. Here is an all-touches compilation from a game in the U-20 Libertadores last year (he’s #10).

Senior Roster Player: Makato Mitsuta/25/Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Makato Mitsuta is my choice for the senior roster player. Mitsuta is a J-League veteran who has played over 100 games in a number of attacking positions but mostly as a #10. He has also been deployed as a #6, however, so he could potentially be an attacking #8. He certainly provides a combination of ball progression and shot creation. However, I will say, I have watched him play and quite a lot of his xA comes from taking corners and free-kicks. This is usually handled by Ryan Gauld so there might be a little bit of a regression there.

DP: Fillipo Ranocchia/23/Palermo

There are not a lot of DP options so I have gone for someone who is potentially a bit of a stretch but still within the realms of plausibility. Fillipo Ranocchia has played for a number of teams in Italy but currently plays for Palermo in Serie B. Clearing 0.5 xG+xA/90 as a #8 is incredible, especially on a mid-table team. Pairing that with some solid ball progression means you have a great Stuart Armstrong replacement. His 4 million transfermarkt value is maybe a bit much for the Whitecaps but it wouldn’t be their most expensive transfer ever.

There has been some speculation that the Whitecaps being up for sale means they won’t spend any money. I think most of these arguments are borne from people not quite understanding the MLS roster rules, what spending is out-of-pocket, and what spending levers have actually been available to the ‘Caps this offseason. Vancouver has already spent one transfer fee on Jayden Nelson and is widely reported to be paying a second for Emmanuel Sabbi. That doesn’t seem like something you would do if you were turning the hose off completely but they are relatively small expenditures so it’s hard to say for sure.

In any case, if the ‘Caps spending ranges truly are unaffected by the sale then I think Ranocchia would be a good option. Here are some highlights.