Vancouver Whitecaps FC have finally signed an attacking player. Peruvian international forward Yordy Reyna is joining the Whitecaps for the 2017 season.
Vancouver’s Latin American club just gained a new recruit.
The Vancouver Whitecaps announced this week the signing of Peruvian international Yordy Reyna. Reyna joins the Whitecaps from Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg.
The 23-year-old forward will occupy an international slot with the Caps. Vancouver signed Reyna to an MLS contract through 2018, and also have options for 2019 and 2020. The Whitecaps used Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) to pay for the deal.
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Reyna joined Red Bull Salzburg from Alianza Lima, the club he debuted with, in 2013 for 1.5 million euros. He recorded 17 goals and 12 assists in 94 appearances across all competitions in Europe.
Reyna won the Austrian Bundesliga twice with RB Salzburg, in 2013-2014 and 2015-2016. However, Reyna’s most successful year personally was spent on loan with SV Grodig in 2014-2015. He recorded 12 goals and seven assists in 26 appearances, and was primarily deployed as center-forward.
Reyna also has international experience. He has scored two goals in and 17 appearances for the Peruvian senior team (five starts), and also represented his country at the U-20 level.
Coach Carl Robinson complimented his new recruit.
"“Reyna is an exciting, hard-working, young talent, and we are thrilled to add him to our club,. He’s very direct with the ball, he can make the final pass, and he can score goals. He has all the attributes we want.”"
A Classic Robinson Signing
So what can we expect Reyna to bring to this Whitecaps team?
According to Transfermarkt, Reyna has made about half of his appearances at center-forward. The remainder of his appearances have been on the wing, or as a second striker. He played about twice as many matches on the right wing as on the left wing.
Robinson described Reyna as “hard-working” and a “young talent”. These are all attributes that will be very familiar to Whitecaps fans. Reyna seems like a classic Robinson signing. He is a young, hard-working, speedy wide forward who also likes to run with the ball.
In other words, he sounds like another Kekuta Manneh, Erik Hurtado, or Alphonso Davies. Giles Barnes and Christian Bolaños are also options on the wing. Kyle Greig, who earned a promotion from the Whitecaps FC2, but has never played an MLS match, is the other forward option in the squad.
The image of Manneh on the left wing and Reyna on the right wing running in behind defenders is mouthwatering for Whitecaps fans. However, the search for a #9 and a #10, which Robinson has identified on his shopping list, continues.
Here are some highlights of Reyna’s career so far:
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What do you think Yordy Reyna will bring to the team? Leave us your comments below.