Minnesota United technical director Mark Watson is coming home without the team reaching a deal to acquire attacking midfielder Emanuel Reynoso from his famed Boca Juniors team.
After Wednesday's 4-2 preseason victory at Portland, United coach Adrian Heath said Watson had left Argentina and was expected back in the U.S. today.
On Sunday, Heath said his team was "one or two minor details" away from completing weeks of pursuit and negotiations for the promising 24 year old nicknamed "Bebelo."
Heath also said then he was "keeping his fingers crossed" that Reynoso could join his team sometime yet this week, with the March 1 season opener at Portland fast approaching.
Watson left Buenos Aires Wednesday without an agreement for what would be a club-record transfer fee to make Reynoso the Loons' third and final "designated player." Veteran midfielder Jan Gregus and teenager Thomas Chacon are the others.
Watson traveled there twice in the last month, including the last week when he resumed complex discussions for a financial deal that also involves the Boca Juniors team, Argentina's soccer federation, Reynoso's former Talleres team that still owns a portion of his rights as well as agents and the player himself.
If United reaches an agreement, it will add another young gifted South American player after it signed Chacon last August and acquired this preseason Paraguayan striker Luis Amarilla, who has scored four goals during parts of three preseason games since he arrived in the United States.
Heath's hope he'd see Reynoso in time to train in Portland, but Watson's return doesn't mean the deal is dead. It could be a pause or negotiating gamesmanship. Both teams have invested time and effort in the discussions, United still can acquire Reynoso anytime until MLS' current transfer window closes in May and Buenos Aires media reported Reynoso has told Boca Juniors officials he wants to play in Minnesota.
If it can't land Reynoso, United probably will move on with veteran Kevin Molino at that "No. 10" spot, which is where Molino has played (and played well) so far this preseason. That's the position veteran star Darwin Quintero played the last two seasons before he was traded to Houston in November.
The Loons could wait until the summer transfer window to address that position if they don't reach agreement with Boca Juniors.
