Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis will be the only two Crew representatives in Brazil for this year's World Cup. With much of the world's top talent there in uniform, the Crew will be setting its scouting sights elsewhere.

"I don't necessarily see us pulling players form the World Cup," Crew coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter told The Dispatch this afternoon. "We'd like to be in that position but I don't think that's our scouting model right now."

Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis will be the only two Crew representatives in Brazil for this year�s World Cup. With much of the world�s top talent there in uniform, the Crew will be setting its scouting sights elsewhere.

�I don�t necessarily see us pulling players form the World Cup,� Crew coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter told The Dispatch this afternoon. �We�d like to be in that position but I don�t think that�s our scouting model right now.�

Following Saturday night�s 1-1 road draw against D.C. United, the Crew gave its players the week off. Players will report back for training this Saturday in advance of next Tuesday�s U.S. Open Cup game against Indy Eleven, and that will include new acquisition Alvaro Rey.

For the coaches, however, this has already been a week of scouting, Berhalter said.

�(Scouting) has been everything these last couple days,� he said. �That�s all we�ve been doing, trying to have some conversations and watch as much as we can and maybe travel and meet some people.�

However, Berhalter said nobody from the Crew has made any scouting trips and that none are currently planned. Despite that, moves could be coming with the summer transfer window set to open July 8.

The Crew�s primary target is a goal scorer, and Berhalter said he is looking both within the league and internationally.

�Right now it�s a lot of people without contracts in Europe and so we�re working through that,� he said. �The work has been ongoing since January when the European window closed. We�re working on that. I would expect something the next couple of weeks.�

Last Friday, the Crew freed up some room under the cap by trading midfielder/forward Dominic Oduro to Toronto FC in exchange for Rey. Specific figures are not known, but the Crew is believed to have room to work with after Berhalter assessed the roster and made moves during the winter.

Salary is not an issue, Berhalter said. Finding roster space is.

�We have one roster spot and potentially one other one but we have cap room so we�re going to look to add someone who can help, but I think it�s important that it�s the right person and the right circumstances,� he said. �We�re not rushing into anything. We want to sign the right person."

Signing a second designated player is not out of the question but is also not specifically a priority, Berhalter said.

�I wouldn�t say that�s necessarily the case, that we want to (sign another DP),� he said. �I think we�re trying to do that but we�ll see. Ownership has been very supportive. We want to do this in the right way and being thoughtful and being proactive with our decision.�

The Crew currently has 30 players under contract but only 29 count against the league-limit of 30. Rookie defender Matt Wiet, who is currently on the disabled list after undergoing knee surgery last fall and is with USL Pro affiliate Dayton, is the outlier.

Once Wiet is activated, the Crew will be at 30. However, Berhalter said players on loan to Dayton do not count against the Crew�s number of roster spots. When the partnership was first announced, Major League Soccer officials told The Dispatch that players loaned out from their parent clubs still count against the roster number.

A message to the league seeking clarification was not immediately returned. Four Crew players are currently on loan to the Dutch Lions: Matt Walker, Ross Friedman, Brad Stuver and Aaron Schoenfeld. Schoenfeld�s loan is classified as �game by game� while the others �may be recalled at any time,� according to the Crew�s official game notes.

�With these guys from Dayton, if we don�t bring them back we have their roster spots,� Berhalter said, �(but) they count against the (salary) cap.�

The Crew can also clear space by waiving players with semi-guaranteed contracts before the league�s July 1 deadline. Any players waived after that date will still be paid their full year�s salary.

With an Open Cup game and one MLS game between now and that deadline, Berhalter said the coaching staff has a �pretty good grasp of what the guys have and what they offer.

�I don�t think it will change that much (in the coming weeks),� he said.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy