PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Timbers defender Hanyer Mosquera was granted an indefinite leave of absence from the team in March. Could that now be a permanent split?
Mosquera, a Colombian native who was a regular in central defense for Portland last season, tweeted on Friday morning that he is preparing physically for a “new challenge in my career.” He has yet to play for the Timbers this season, and returned to Colombia following Portland’s 1-1 draw against Seattle on March 16 for what the team called “personal reasons.”
Timbers head coach Caleb Porter said after Friday’s training session at JELD-WEN Field that there was no change in Mosquera’s status with the club. He said he hadn’t heard of anything regarding Mosquera joining another team.
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Mosquera’s tweet also indicated that he was in Colombia’s capital city of Bogotá, where his previous club, La Equidad, is located. Before joining the Timbers ahead of the 2012 season, Mosquera anchored La Equidad’s backline during the 2011 Apertura campaign, starting 22 games and contributing to nine clean sheets.
The Timbers are in action on Saturday, when the host the Houston Dynamo (10:30 pm ET; FREE STREAM on MLSsoccer.com).
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
