Since the Whitecaps transferred Designated Player Octavio Rivero, there’ve been rumblings of a new DP signing in the works.

First was Uruguayan attacking midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro, who was linked to the Caps by La Afición reporter Niko Moreno. After a bit of a saga, Lodeiro would eventually sign with the Sounders, who were in possession of his Discovery Rights.

According to La Tercera, next on the Caps wish list was Chilean target man Marcelo Larrondo. It would appear that the Caps were in talks with Rosario Central, but were eventually out bid by the South American giant River Plate of Buenos Aires.

Last and least was the well documented trade, and subsequent transfer, of Argentine striker Fabian Espindola. The story goes that, at the time of the trade with DC United, Espindola was in pre-contract negotiations with Liga MX club Necaxa. Rather than uproot his young family for the remainder of his current contract (only to have to do it again six months later) Necaxa offered to buy the striker from the Caps. Goal USA reporter Ives Galarcep had the Caps earning $20k of General Allocation Money after all was said and done.

If we forget about the Espindola fiasco, I like where the Caps are going with their DP targets. Lodeiro and Larrondo were both playing in the Argentine Primera (arguably one of the strongest leagues outside of Europe) and for the most part Primera players tend to adapt well to MLS. So if the Caps were to continue their search in Argentina, who else might they target?

Linked below are the Primera’s current top scoring centre forwards, aged 23 – 30.

http://www.transfermarkt.com/primera-division/torschuetzenliste/wettbewerb/AR1N/saison_id/2015/altersklasse/23-30/detailpos/14

Of this list, I like Santiago Garcia-a 25 year old Uruguayan, who scores at a rate of 1 goal every 154 minutes played. To put that into perspective, Kudo and Rivero’s goals per minute before joining the Caps, were 196 (when played as a CF) and 174 respectively. Garcia’s also got some decent pace, a strong build, and as Whoscored notes, he’s a STRONG FINISHER!

Here’s Garcia’s obligatory YouTube highlights, complete with godawful music…

Peace.