PORTLAND, Ore. – The Timbers are actively pursuing two center midfielders – and one of the options could be Portland's first Designated Player, according to owner and president Merritt Paulson.
“We will add a player of note, of significance, a center midfielder, and I would venture to guess we’ll have that player by our home opener on April 14,” Paulson told local radio station 95.5 The Game's Talk Timbers program on Wednesday.
“We’ve got a couple of options. [Marcos] Flores, who people have talked about on the chat boards, is not one of the options. One of the two players would be a DP and the other one would be an extremely good fit as well.”
On the subject of English defender Kerrea Gilbert, signed by the Timbers on Dec. 13, Paulson said he expected the issue of whether he would join the team to be resolved within the next week.
Gilbert has been caught up in legal red tape and unable to come into the US.
Paulson said he was aware that Gilbert, 24, had a couple of alcohol-related incidents on his record. But the team spoke to friends and others close to the player and “people said he was a good guy,” according to Paulson.
Gilbert came up as a youth product of English giants Arsenal, but has been unable to consistently crack the top-tier lineup and has spent most of the past four seasons on loan. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger even wrote a letter of recommendation, Paulson said.
But as Gilbert began the visa process, a number of new incidents arose.
“At that point, he seemed like he guy we wouldn’t want anyway,” Paulson said.
Gilbert, however, maintained that the new information was false. Paulson said the team was trying to corroborate Gilbert’s story. So how likely is it that Gilbert will wear a Timbers jersey?
“I would have said, ‘No way,’ if you asked me two weeks ago,” Paulson said. “It’s all coming to a head this week. With this new information, there’s still a chance we get him. But we need validation one way or another on the history, and we take character very seriously.”
