Carlos Bocanegra could very well be on his way to Major League Soccer during this summer's transfer window, which opens for MLS clubs on July 9. That's according to ESPN color commentator Taylor Twellman, during Friday afternoon's broadcast of the United States Under-20 national team's opening World Cup match.
During the first half of the US's matchup against world powerhouse Spain, Twellman dropped a bit of knowledge on viewers with the following quote about the now-former US national team captain, Bocanegra:
"A little birdie told me we're going to see Carlos Bocanegra in MLS."
Plenty of speculation has gone on regarding Bocanegra's immediate future once his loan deal to Racing Santander — relegated from the Spanish second division in 2012-13 — comes to an end and the American center back returns to parent club Rangers, now a third-division side in Scotland and unable to retain many of its high-priced players.
As a US international potentially coming to MLS, Bocanegra would be subjected to the MLS allocation process, which would see the teams at the top of the list — Toronto FC, Portland and Seattle rank one though three, respectively — with the first chances to sign the 34-year-old.
Given early-season injuries at the center back position, and a seeming real intent to compete deep into the 2013 MLS Cup playoffs, Portland makes a lot of sense as a potential landing place for Bocanegra, who hails from the West Coast. The Timbers would be required to compensate Toronto to move up in the rankings should they desire signing Bocanegra badly enough.
A veteran defensive linchpin might be the one thing missing from a successful playoff run for the Timbers, so that might be worth picking up the phone over, Caleb Porter, if you haven't done so already.
