Gavin Wilkinson stood in the center of a media scrum at the Portland Timbers training facility with a satisfied smile on the day that the club first announced the signing of Lucas Melano back in July 2015.

For more than 10 minutes, Wilkinson gushed about the club's newest Designated Player. Portland had spent years pursuing Melano before finally paying a $5 million transfer fee to acquire the young attacker. They had beat out clubs in Europe to ink the Argentine to a contract. The highly-touted forward was expected to come in and make an immediate impact. That Melano was only 22 and leaving his home country for the very first time didn't seem to temper expectations.

"When you look at the clubs that were also vying for this player, it's quite a feather in our cap I think," said Wilkinson at the time.

That hype didn't do Melano any favors as his first stint in Portland was predominately viewed as a disappointment.

The 22-year-old showed promise in 2015, tallying one goal and three assists in eight starts during the regular season before going on to play a critical role in the club's MLS Cup title run. Melano scored the series-deciding goal against FC Dallas in the Western Conference Championship and recorded the game-winning assist against the Columbus Crew in the 2015 MLS Cup.

But Melano struggled to build on that success in 2016. He recorded just three goals and five assists in 27 starts in his first full season in Portland as the Timbers missed playoffs. By the end of the year, the highly-touted attacker had lost his starting spot. He made just one start in the club's final six games of the 2016 regular season.

It didn't come as a surprise when the Timbers made the decision to send Melano on loan at the end of 2016.

"For Melano, if we look at what the expectations were to what he delivered, maybe you'd say he disappointed," Wilkinson told the Oregonian/OregonLive earlier this month. "However, were the expectations realistic relative to his age, him leaving Argentina for the first time, and did we handle it properly?"

Given the strong emotions around Melano's first stint with the club, it wasn't surprising to see a mixed reaction from fans last week when the Timbers officially announced that they were bringing Melano back to Portland for the remainder of the 2018 season.

But Melano is returning to the Timbers under very different circumstances.

The Timbers didn't take much of a gamble by bringing back Melano. The 25-year-old's loan to Argentine club Estudiantes had recently expired and the Timbers had to make a decision on where to place him. Portland also had extra space on its roster after trading Fanendo Adi.

The Timbers are essentially filling a roster spot that might otherwise have stayed empty while affording themselves the opportunity to evaluate Melano's progress, see if he can step up under a new coach in Giovanni Savarese and assess whether he has grown into a player that could be an asset to the club moving forward.

"We know he's a guy that can create a lot of problems for teams because of his fast pace," Savarese said. "He has a lot of qualities that I think will make us a better team."

During his time on loan in the Argentine first division, Melano made 35 league appearances (24 starts) and recorded three goals across two seasons competing for Atletico Belgrano and Estudiantes. He also made eight appearances (seven starts) for Estudiantes in the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, recording two goals in the 2018 Copa Libertadores.

But Melano said he always hoped he'd get another opportunity to compete in Portland.

"It was just in my mind from the beginning that I was going to come back," said Melano, who spoke through an interpreter. "I'm happy to be here. I'm excited. This is just a very comfortable place for me to be."

This time around, Melano said he believes the transition will be a lot smoother. He already knows the club and the personnel within the Timbers organization and is comfortable within the city of Portland. As a Spanish speaker, Melano could also benefit from working with a coach that speaks his language.

"The first time here, I was 22," Melano said. "Though I had already played in Argentina for a few years, it wasn't the same. Now, I'm a bit more mature with a lot more games under my belt. Obviously, playing in Copa Liberatores was a great experience. I think now I don't have that pressure that I need to get here and get acculturated and everything. I know the club, I know the players, I know everybody. This is going to be a lot easier for me."

The expectations will also be different for Melano this time around.

Savarese isn't planning to throw the Argentine into the lineup immediately. Instead, Savarese said the club will need to "be patient" as Melano adapts to the squad. Melano isn't with the team on their current road trip, meaning that fans will at minimum have to wait until the Timbers host the Seattle Sounders on Aug. 26 to see what impact Melano could have in his second stint with the club.

"He's very content to be here with the group," Savarese said. "He's training well, but we also need to be patient. We need to make sure he gets back to his full form and he's able to transition and adapt to the team."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg