The New England Revolution have added their first-ever Designated Player — and, they hope, some much-needed scoring punch — in the form of Argentine striker Milton Caraglio.
Caraglio, 22, will move to MLS from Argentine side Rosario Central, pending the outcome of an entrance physical on Wednesday. Caraglio is expected to practice with the Revs for the first time on Thursday and will take up a roster spot and an international player slot upon the arrival of his international transfer certificate.
“We've been pretty open and public about our desire to add a player or two during this window,” vice president of player personnel Michael Burns told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday afternoon. “We're looking forward to getting Milton in as quickly as possible and getting acclimated to our guys, both on and off the field.”
Caraglio first popped up on the Revolution's radar earlier this year. After sorting through his record with Rosario (11 goals in 49 games in the Argentine first division from 2007-2010) and weighing the desire to sign more attacking players during the transfer window, the Revs decided to move for a player heavily linked to Catania (Italy) and West Ham United (England) last summer.
“When all of that added up — and, obviously, it took a little bit longer than we had hoped — we were glad we were able to get it done,” Burns said. “We look forward to his arrival.”
The interest from West Ham petered out after Caraglio failed a physical during his trial stint with the Hammers due to a left ACL injury sustained in May 2009. Burns said the Revs knew about their new No. 9's injury history and received positive reports about his current health after scouring around for information.
“We have medical documentation that he is 100 percent cleared, fit and training with no limitations or restrictions,” Burns said. “We made sure on our part that we did our due diligence. He'll also get another physical from our [medical staff] when he arrives here tomorrow, but we don't anticipate any issues whatsoever or else we would not have signed him.”
Caraglio's arrival should bolster the Revolution's front line once he is cleared to play, but Burns said the club also plans to pursue another signing to further improve an attack that has scored a league-low 20 goals this season.
“This is just one step in the process,” Burns said. “We have a couple of more weeks and we're going to try to bring in another player as well. But we feel and we hope that this is a step to help us in the second part of the year.”
