MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact may have another move in the works.
Forward Santiago Gonzalez appears set to go on loan at Danubio FC, in his hometown of Montevideo, Uruguay.
Danubio, who won their fourth Uruguayan first division championship on June 8, kicked off their preseason on Monday. Gonzalez’s name appeared on Danubio’s website this week, when the club announced their first signings of the season.
Gonzalez trained with Montreal this Thursday. After practice, head coach Frank Klopas said nothing was finalized as far as he knew.
“But I know that there’s interest from a team there for him to go and play,” Klopas told reporters. “We have to look at it. Obviously, it’s a different league. It’s taken him some time to adjust here. He’s still a quality player, but our league is a little bit different. More physical, more pacy. He’s a young guy, and maybe he needs games. We’ll still have his rights.”
This loan opportunity for Gonzalez casts a brighter light on Montreal’s interest in Canadian international forward Olivier Occean – though Klopas didn’t mention him specifically on Thursday. Gonzalez’s departure would leave the Impact with only two center forwards in Marco Di Vaio and Jack McInerney.
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So we’ll look into [the Gonzalez interest], but also, we need to add some depth up front, especially now in moments when we’re playing with two forwards,” Klopas said. “We’re a little bit thin. So we need to get some depth there.”
Gonzalez, who will turn 23 on Friday, signed with Montreal on February 14, 2014, from Uruguayan club Sud America as a Special Discovery acquisition. In eight short appearances for Montreal, he’s logged 76 minutes of play without a goal or an assist.
