A day after the Portland Timbers fell to Atlanta United in the 2018 MLS Cup, Gavin Wilkinson and Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese sat next to each other on the club’s charter flight back to Portland and started to lay out their plans for the offseason.

Even though Portland made a surprise run to the MLS Cup in 2018, the Timbers know that they will have to make some key changes in the offseason if they hope to once again compete for a trophy in 2019.

Wilkinson, the club’s general manager and president of soccer, said Thursday that the Timbers are planning to bring in three or four starting-caliber players ahead of next season to provide competition in different positions.

“We are looking to strengthen the group,” Wilkinson said. “We are looking to strengthen the roster in three or four positions and that does provide more competition for places.”

The biggest decision that that the Timbers will need to make in the offseason is what they want to do with their open Designated Player slot.

While the Timbers currently have all three Designated Player spots filled, the club would be able to buy down Lucas Melano’s contract with Targeted Allocation Money if they were to sign a new Designated Player. Wilkinson said Thursday that the club was still determining how they want to use their open Designated Player spot, but he did say that the organization planned to sign a new Designated Player that could be an immediate difference maker.

Whether that Designated Player joins the Timbers ahead of the 2019 season or during the 2019 season remains to be seen.

“It’s not a position you want to get wrong,” Wilkinson said. “It’s a position that you need to make sure you get right and it’s worthwhile taking that little bit of extra time. There’s still no guarantees that we’re going to have them by the start of preseason or the start of the season, but we will make sure to keep the resources available to bring the player in at some stage next year.”

The club also has to make some key personnel decisions in the offseason. Those decisions could influence the type of positional targets that the Timbers go after ahead of next season.

Wilkinson confirmed Thursday that the club was planning to trade right back Alvas Powell, even though they have yet to finalize a trade. If the Timbers trade Powell, they will likely look to acquire a new right back in the offseason.

The Timbers also have to decide whether they want to bring defender Liam Ridgewell back to the club next season.

While Ridgewell, 34, remains under contract with the Timbers, he told the Oregonian/OregonLive earlier this year that he only wanted to return to the club if he was going to get consistent playing time moving forward. He also said that he would need to have discussions with Wilkinson and Savarese about his role with the club during the offseason.

Ridgewell is still Portland’s best defender when he is in form, but the veteran center back made just 13 starts in 2018 after Savarese benched him early in the year. He didn’t consistently return to the lineup until the end of August. Ridgewell has also missed significant time over the last three years due to injuries.

Wilkinson said that he and Savarese still needed to sit down with Ridgewell and discuss his future with the club.

“We are a better team with Liam when Liam is doing what Liam does,” Wilkinson said. “I do know there’s a very healthy relationship with Liam and, while there have been some challenges, there has never been a lack of respect. It’s important that continues. I know it will, knowing Liam and knowing his strengths and who he is. But those conversations need to happen. We need to make sure that he’s going to be happy. We need to make sure the club is situated both for the short-term and the long-term.”

While Wilkinson didn’t say which positions the Timbers wanted to target in the offseason, it’s safe to assume that the club will be going after a forward, either with their open Designated Player spot or through different mechanisms.

Samuel Armenteros' loan with the Timbers will expire at the end of the year and the striker is not expected to return to the club next season. Armenteros, who the Timbers acquired on loan from Benevento Calcio, made an impression early in the year, scoring eight goals in 12 appearances. His performance prompted the Timbers to trade forward Fanendo Adi in July. But Armenteros' form dropped off late in the season and he didn’t even play a role in Portland’s playoff run. By the end of the season, it was clear that Armenteros wouldn’t be coming back.

Savarese said that Armenteros' simply ran out of gas toward the end of the season after essentially playing for two years straight without a real offseason as he moved between various clubs. The Timbers tried to get Armenteros back to a spot where he could contribute at the end of the season, but things didn’t pan out.

“We were always trying to see if we could make him come back to the level that we wanted, but toward the end it became a little bit more difficult,” Savarese said.

With Armenteros' departure, the Timbers have three players at the forward position in Jeremy Ebobisse, Lucas Melano and Foster Langsdorf. Wilkinson said it would be important for those players to continue to develop, but it would also be necessary for the Timbers to add depth at that position. Langsdorf is expected to spend more time with T2 next year. Ebobisse finished the 2018 season as the club’s starting forward, but still needs to continue to develop as well. Melano gave Portland a spark off the bench in 2018, but has yet to show that he can consistently score goals.

“I think it’s important to continue to work with those players, but also continue to strengthen the group as a whole,” said Wilkinson about the forwards. “This may be one of the positions where we’re contemplating adding somebody.”

While the Timbers organization certainly has work to do in the offseason, Savarese said he was proud of what the group accomplished in his first season at the helm this year. He is hopeful that the club can build on the success of 2018 as they strive to make a return to the MLS Cup next season.

“We need to continue to build from this good base that we now have,” Savarese said. “Now, it’s about how can we get better and how can we improve certain things.”

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg