When Luis Caicedo was announced as the New England Revolution’s latest signing on March 8, few understood why the club brought the Colombian midfielder stateside — especially considering it required the use of precious Targeted Allocation Money (TAM).



But Caicedo was no panic move, nor another last-minute need signing for a club that has a history of them. Instead, Caicedo had been on the Revs’ radar for a “couple months,” said Remi Roy, who finally became the club’s first-ever dedicated scout this year, long before the 22-year-old was actually signed.



Caicedo, then at Colombian club Cortuluá, came to New England’s attention via a contact of Argentine assistant coach Marcelo Neveleff. It also happened that head coach Brad Friedel knew Cortuluá’s directors from prior speaking engagements in Latin America.



The circumstances were in New England’s favor; Cortuluá had recently been...