VANCOUVER — Omar Salgado. Remember him, Vancouver Whitecaps fans?

In all the fuss over the successful debuts of new arrivals Daigo Kobayashi, Nigel Reo-Coker and Brad Rusin and the speed and promise of 2013 first-round draft picks Kekuta Manneh and Erik Hurtado, the status of the Caps’ first-ever pick, and the first overall selection in 2011, had taken on the intrigue of one of those Where’s Waldo books.

Never mind trying to locate him on the subs bench. Could anybody find him among the 25-30 guys at practice?

From the start of training camp, when he was running or working on the side with trainers and physios, if his name did come up, it was always with a series of questions.

Is he ever going to be fit? Is he going to be traded? Is he a loan candidate?

The answers, it turns out, are yes, no and no.

“I think I’m pretty much 100 per cent,” the 19-year-old Texan from El Paso proclaimed Wednesday, before hesitantly adding, “other than playing on this (artificial turf) surface.”

Salgado, who got just five starts in his rookie Major League Soccer season, hasn’t played meaningful minutes for the Caps since last May. He broke his foot twice last season, the first time in Uruguay while playing for the United States’ under-20 side in early June, then caught wind in January of rumours that he was headed to Chivas USA in a trade, or later that he might be loaned out because of Vancouver’s glut of wingers.

“It’s been 8½ months, been a long time,” said Salgado, who is expected to play with the reserves in one or two of three matches the Caps have scheduled against university teams over the next six days.

“It’s been really frustrating, but I’m glad that I’m back and feeling a lot better than last time. Hopefully, I can get some minutes on Saturday (against the University of Victoria Vikings) and look forward to Houston (on March 23 when Vancouver resumes MLS action).”

The 6-4 Salgado had shown some promise as a left-side attacking player in five games during April and May of last season before fracturing his right foot. He made his return in Portland on Oct. 21, playing the final 13 minutes as a substitute, then reinjured the foot a couple of days later during a reserve game at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium.

“I stepped up wrong, felt a crack, got an X-ray and it was re-broken. It was a stress fracture and it wasn’t as bad, but it got worse and I had to be on the (walking) boot again. It turned into 3½, four months after that.”

His off-season training program was delayed and then he had to deal with other related issues — Achilles soreness and hamstring pulls — as he tried to work his way back to full fitness.

“I think he’s handled it quite well,” said head coach Martin Rennie. “It’s very difficult being hurt. I think sometimes when it’s an injury that maybe you think the time is shorter than it ends up being, that’s almost more difficult.”