Real Salt Lake Sign “El Burrito” Martinez To DP Deal
By Sean Maslin
After dealing away all-time leading goalscorer Alvaro Saborio Real Salt Lake were in need of a lift on the attacking end. Enter El Burrito. On Wednesday the club announced that Argentine forward Javier Manuel Martinez had signed a Designated Player deal.
In order to accommodate Martinez’s salary the club used their Targeted Allocation Money to buy down defensive-midfielder Kyle Beckerman’s Designated Player deal. As per league policy exact terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.
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Martinez, 29, comes to RSL after having a mixed tenure with Argentine football giants Boca Juniors. Although he featured prominently for the club during their 2013-2014 campaign, making 30 appearances and scoring 3 goals, he has seen his minutes decline in recent years. In 2015 he has made just 7 appearances for the side mostly due to the arrival of Dani Osvaldo and Carlos Tevez.
Prior to featuring for Boca, Martinez spent most of his career with Velez Sarsfield where he would win three Clausura’s (2005, 2009, and 2011). In 2010 he scored 10 goals for El Fortin and was named co-winner of the 2010 Argentine Footballer of the Year with Messi. The Argentine Football Association recognizes the top league player as well as the top Argentine player abroad when giving out their footballer of the year award.
Here is footage from El Burrito scoring in open space against Godoy Cruz in the 2008 Apertura:
He has also featured for Corinthians in Brazil, Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia, Cucuta Deportivo in Colombia, and Argentinos Juniors in Argentina.
Despite Martinez typically serving as a winger he should provide some relief for the RSL attack. Although the club’s goal-scoring totals are not bad (27, sixth lowest in the league) but in a very difficult Western Conference it is clear that the club has lacked options up front against their rivals. RSL has scored just 10 goals in 14 matches against the Western Conference this season as opposed to 17 goals in 10 matches against the Eastern Conference.
What will be interesting to see is how Martinez will fit into RSL coach Jeff Cassar starting eleven. In Cassar’s 4-3-3 he will likely replace Sebastian Saucedo and be situated on the left alongside Sebastian Jaime (4 goals) and Olmes Garcia (2 goals). Jaime has shown flashes this season of becoming a dominant forward in MLS but because defenses mark him closely his impacted has been limited in 2015. Adding someone like Martinez who has experience in creating his own opportunities will inevitably lead to better opportunities for Jaime and midfielder Javier Morales (5 goals).
Martinez still needs to obtain his P-1 visa so it is unlikely that he will feature for the Cobalt and Claret against the Portland Timbers on Saturday (10pm EST MLS Live). But once he does come in he should provide immediate assistance for RSL in both league play and the CONCACAF Champions League.