Minnesota United added its first player of the summer transfer window on Monday, signing winger Romario Ibarra, a 23-year-old Ecuadorian expected to inject speed into the Loons’ lineup.

To complete the transfer, Minnesota used Target Allocation Money, a Major League Soccer fund created to acquire players who earn higher salaries and are expected to be key influencers on the field.

Ibarra’s debut could come in the international friendly against Costa Rica club Deportivo Saprissa on Wednesday, or in an MLS match against Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Both games are at TCF Bank Stadium.

“He changes games with his pace and he challenges defenders,” United coach Adrian Heath said in a statement. “He’s of a great age at 23 and has had a good start to his career.”

United signed three players using TAM last season: captain center back Francisco Calvo, midfielder Rasmus Schuller and center back Vadim Demidov, all before the Loons’ and the players’ first seasons in MLS in 2017. Calvo and Schuller are regulars in Minnesota’s lineup; the team bought out Demidov and his then-team-high $550,000 salary for 2018 in February.

United can officially add players to its roster in the summer transfer window though Aug. 8. Ibarra is expected to be the first of a few new additions.

Ibarra, who is 5-foot-8, 160 pound, has 16 goals in 131 matches with Universidad Catolica in Ecuador’s top league since 2014. He earned his first call-up for the Ecuadorian national team in South American confederation qualifiers for the World Cup. While Ecuador was eliminated, he scored goals in games against Chile and Argentina in 2017.

“I know how difficult these types of players are for us to cope with,” Heath said. “It will make a change now that we have one of these players on our roster that we feel, with his skill and pace on the counterattack, can be a difference-maker.”

Ibarra’s goal in the CONMEBOL qualifier against Argentina came 38 seconds into the match on Oct. 10, 2017. The deficit woke up legend Lionel Messi, whose hat trick led Argentina to a 3-1 victory.

Renato Ibarra, Romario’s brother, is also on Ecuador’s national team and plays for Mexico’s Club America, where he was teammates with Darwin Quintero. In March, Quintero became Minnesota’s first Designated Player, the highest-priced additions that should be among the club’s MVPs. United can sign up to three DPs, and the other two spots are now vacant.

The club hasn’t released Ibarra’s salary budget charge, but it will become available from the MLS players union in its twice-annual release of salaries in September.

The club didn’t release the length of Ibarra’s contract, either, but according to Futbol Pacifico in Ecuador, the deal is for three years. His signing, which includes an international roster spot, will be completed when his visa and other paperwork are obtained.