As Minnesota United are in Florida for their winter preseason camp, the squad is still looking to make roster moves to fill out open spots and to become roster compliant per MLS rules.

One player that is on Head Coach Adrian Heath’s shortlist is 24-year old Boca Juniors midfielder Emanuel Reynoso as a possible replacement for Darwin Quintero who was traded to the Houston Dynamo in November.

So, who is Emanuel Reynoso and why do the Loons want him?

Reynoso has played his entire professional career in Argentina originally with Talleres de Cordoba (Talleres) and currently with Boca Juniors.

Used primarily as an off the bench option at Talleres, Reynoso’s breakout season was during the 2016-17 campaign where he made 25 appearances with the first team, scoring two goals.

During the 2018 winter transfer window, Reynoso signed a 1.2m offer sheet to join Boca Juniors where he has emerged as a key component in the attacking Boca Junior offense, helping the Argentinian side win their domestic championship in 2018.

Although he only has four goals and eight assists through 56 matches with Boca, Reynoso is often the midfielder/winger that starts the attack, something that has interested the Loons. Through 14 games this season, Reynoso has appeared in 14 matches, scoring one and recording three assists, all coming in his last four matches.

Asked recently about the possibility of Reynoso joining before the transfer window closes, Heath said that he is “taking a wait and see approach”, adding “it’s obviously gone to a stage where we are going to make a decision on that sooner or later, but we are still very optimistic. It’s still very much in the pipeline.” (source: TwinCities.com)

A major sticking point will be getting past Boca manager Miguel Angel Russo who is against a transfer and because of this Heath also said the team still is “actively working” to obtain another center back as well. (source: StarTribune)

“We’ve got one or two people, targets, that we look at, but in terms of — we have to be mindful of the fact that he is Boca Juniors player,” Heath said. “And we are dictated to when they think it’s going to be right for them to do something.” (source: MLS)

The Loons have to be MLS roster compliant Feb. 28, with the season opener at Portland on March 1 and the transfer window open through May 5.

Emanuel Reynoso Video Highlights: