The Portland Timbers and captain Diego Valeri have reached an impasse in contract negotiations, raising the possibility that the Timbers captain may not return to the club next season, according to a report from The Athletic.

The Oregonian/OregonLive was able to independently confirm the accuracy of the The Athletic’s report.

Gavin Wilkinson, the Timbers’ president of soccer and general manager, said in an interview with the Oregonian/OregonLive Tuesday that Valeri’s contributions to the club could not be overstated and that the Timbers remained hopeful that they would be able to come to an agreement to bring Valeri back in 2020. While Valeri’s current contract runs through 2019, the Timbers have an option to extend the 33-year-old’s deal into 2020.

“Valeri is one of a few players that have been integral to me keeping my job and I owe him a lot,” Wilkinson said. “Diego, his wife and his daughter have developed into a huge part of this club and community. I want to keep him on the roster, as does (Timbers owner) Merritt (Paulson) and (coach) Giovanni (Savarese). I also know that as the organization and the league continues to become more and more competitive, we have to continue to get better.”

Valeri declined to comment on the ongoing contract negotiations when reached by the Oregonian/OregonLive Tuesday.

Valeri, who is making $2.42 million this season, according to the MLS Players Association, had hoped to sign a new two-year designated player deal before the summer and has “grown increasingly frustrated with the Timbers over how the negotiations have played out," according to The Athletic.

The Timbers are hoping to open up a new designated player spot in 2020 to potentially sign a new player. They would only be able to do that by offering Valeri a contract that could be bought down with Targeted Allocation Money (TAM), which can be used to buy down the contract of players making between $530,000 and $1.53 million. Each team in MLS is allowed to sign up to only three designated players, who hit the salary cap at $530,000, regardless of their actual compensation and acquisition costs, making it imperative that clubs use those spots wisely.

The Timbers are still interested in potentially picking up Valeri’s existing option for next season or offering him a contract that would keep him as a designated player in 2020, but allow him to be bought down with Targeted Allocation Money in 2021, according to The Athletic.

But negotiations have stalled in recent weeks after Valeri indicated that he wasn’t interested in those options, according to The Athletic.

Valeri is the best player to ever take the field for the Timbers.

He ranks first in Timbers history in both career goals (76) and assists (81). His best season came in 2017 when he won the MLS MVP Award after tallying a career-best 21 goals and 11 assists. Valeri, who joined the Timbers in 2013, is having a strong season for Portland. He has tallied eight goals and a team-leading 16 assists this year.

Valeri and his family have also been very active in the Portland community during his time with the club and he had previously indicated that he would like to retire in Portland.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg

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