Good Monday morning Caps fans. Hope you all are having a lovely start to the week after a good weekend.
The Whitecaps have touched down in Spain, kicking off the 2026 campaign in style. All the players you would hope are with the squad are there (i.e Tristan Blackmon), save Ralph Priso, Rayan Elloumi, and Jeevan Badwal, who were with the Canadian National Team camp. All three featured in the friendly with Guatemala on Saturday night, with Elloumi and Priso starting, meaning they should be returning to the club on a high.
Heading into camp, here are some questions that I’ll be tracking:
1. Which youngsters make an impact?
Preseason has historically been a good window into which academy players or young prospects might interest the first team coaches. Mihail Gherasimencov, Liam Mackenzie, and Nikola Djordjevic are likely to get a good long look, as they all inked first team deals this off-season. Djordjevic and Gherasimencov intrigue me, given the possibility of a Giuseppe Bovalina departure and the need for fullback depth. Both did well enough at the Whitecaps 2 level to merit a first team deal and I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them, possibly Djordjevic, gets real first team minutes this season. Nelson Pierre is another one to watch after getting surpassed by Elloumi on the depth chart last year.
2. How does the center back situation look?
Even beyond the drama with Blackmon, Jesper Sorensen will have some decisions to make regarding the pecking order at CB. While Blackmon and Ranko Veselinovic are likely to be first choice when Ranko fully returns from injury, that likely won’t happen for a couple of months. In the meantime, one imagines Ralph Priso will continue to slot in as a starter. But how do Joedrick Pupe and Sebastian Schonlau fit into the picture? Pupe could deputize at left back but it remains to be seen if he has sufficient pace for the position in MLS. Schonlau is an even greater unknown, after he picked up an injury almost immediately after arriving in Vancouver. This will be the best chance yet to see how these guys will fit into the picture.
3. Which new signings might turn up in Vancouver?
The Caps have been linked with Peruvian winger Maxloren Castro from Sporting Cristal, as have LAFC. Not sure how legit the rumors are but given that Vancouver went shopping in Peru for Kenji Cabrera, it makes a lot of sense. Castro has a reported $2 million price tag, despite being one of the more promising young players in the league and already getting called up to the senior Peruvian national team. A player like that in Argentina, Colombia, or Uruguay would cost several times that amount. This has the looks of a superb signing if it goes through – Castro seems to have the pace and flair that made Ali Ahmed a fan favorite but needs a bit of polish. That’s something Jesper Sorensen can help with. It doesn’t seem like this one is imminent but it is definitely something to watch going forward.
Best of the Rest
Ali Ahmed kicked off his tenure at Norwich City with an assist, a strong performance, and a win.
Inter Miami appear to have waved the white flag on acquiring Tristan Blackmon.
An unexpected sale this off-season: Sporting KC, which reportedly changed hands for $700 million.
Inter Miami’s spending spree is set to continue with a $15 million move for Monterrey striker German Berterame.
⚽ How Maxloren Castro Would Fit Tactically
1. A natural fit for Vancouver’s winger profile
The Whitecaps under Vanni Sartini (and now Jesper Sørensen) have consistently valued:
Direct, vertical wingers
Players who can attack space in transition
Young, high-upside profiles who can be developed and sold
Castro checks all three boxes. He’s described as:
Fast
Confident on the ball
Able to beat defenders 1v1
Still raw, but moldable
That’s almost the exact scouting report the club had for Ali Ahmed and Pedro Vite when they arrived.
2. Where he would play
Castro is a right winger, but he’s comfortable drifting inside. In Vancouver’s system, that role typically:
Stretches the back line
Creates isolation matchups
Opens space for the overlapping fullback
Provides cutback passes or diagonal runs into the box
He’d likely compete with:
Ryan Raposo (versatile but not a pure winger)
Levonte Johnson (more of a striker/wing hybrid)
Ali Ahmed (who has been used everywhere)
There’s room for a true winger with pace — something the roster lacks.
3. Why Sørensen would like him
The article notes that Sørensen is good at refining young players. His teams tend to emphasize:
Clean positional structure
Quick transitions
Wide players who can press aggressively
Castro’s raw tools fit that developmental environment. He’s the kind of player who becomes much more dangerous once given tactical clarity.
4. How he complements Kenji Cabrera
The page mentions that Vancouver just signed Kenji Cabrera, another young Peruvian. That matters because:
MLS clubs often recruit in clusters from a region
Young players adapt faster when they arrive with compatriots
It signals that Vancouver is intentionally tapping into the Peruvian market
Castro + Cabrera could be a long-term pairing on opposite wings or as wing/attacking-mid options.
5. The upside play
The article frames Castro as:
One of Peru’s top young talents
Already called to the senior national team
Valued around $2M — cheap for a player with that ceiling
For Vancouver, that’s exactly the type of move that can turn into:
A breakout season
A multi-million-dollar sale
A reputation boost in South America
🧭 Bottom line
If the rumour becomes real, Castro would be:
A high-upside developmental winger
A stylistic fit for Vancouver’s system
A logical continuation of their Peruvian recruitment
A player who fills a real roster need: pace and 1v1 threat on the right side
This mentions Levonte Johnson and Ryan Raposo, get this AI garbage out of here.
one thing we learned from 2025- trust in Jesper and Axel to acquire the best players with the money we have, and then motivate the players to become better and be part of the TEAM
having watched Pupe with short snapshots, he isnt very fast- Schonlau hopefully becomes a surprise as he does have quite a good pedigree
do you have any update on Vesalinovic and Adekugbe on their recovery from injuries?