Portland Timbers: 2020 Preview – A run at MLS Cup glory?
By Matt Coles
Offseason Summary
Squad Retention
The majority of the Portland Timbers’ core has remained. That is obviously a good sign for the upcoming campaign. Diego Chara and Diego Valeri will continue to the be the club’s leaders, with the pair having made over 500 combined appearances for the Timbers since 2011.
Sebastian Blanco and Dairon Asprilla have both featured more than 100 times for the club and will also provide experience going forward in 2020. The likes of Jeremy Ebobisse, Andes Flores, Cristhian Paredes and Tomas Conechny have all made impacts in their short MLS careers so far and will be looking to improve on their stat lines this season.
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At the back, Larrys Mabiala, Bill Tuiloma, Jorge Villafana, Julio Cascante, and the club’s best defender in 2019, Jorge Moreira, all remain with the team and will provide defensive cover in front of goalkeepers Steve Clark and Jeff Attinella.
Transfers & SuperDraft Picks
Six players departed from the Portland Timbers this offseason. The biggest name moving on was Brian Hernandez, who was cut from the club’s roster after he failed to comply with the league’s Substance Abuse and Behavioural Health Program.
Portland lost two players to drafts, with defender Zarek Valentin chosen by Nashville SC with their fourth selection in the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft and Kendall McIntosh moving to the New York Red Bulls after they selected the goalkeeper in the 2019 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Three other members of last year’s squad left the club after not having their contracts renewed. Defenders Modou Jadama and Claude Dielna and forward Foster Langsdorf all parted ways with the Timbers.
Five players have signed for Portland in the offseason. The sole American to arrive is Blake Bodily, who graduated from the Timbers Academy into the first team. Polish striker Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Colombian winger Yimmi Chara are Portland’s newest Designated Players, having signed for the club from Legia Warsaw and Atlético Mineiro respectively.
Croatian central defender Dario Zuparic made the move from HNK Rijeka in the offseason and was signed to a multi-year contract, while Chilean forward Felipe Mora signed on loan from UNAM for the 2020 campaign.
After trading away their second round pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, the Portland Timbers had just three selections to hand, and they used all three. Penn State midfielder Aaron Molloy was selected with the 16th overall pick, before the defensive pair of Zac McGraw and Joergen Oland, from Army and Fordham respectively, were chosen in the later rounds.