The Brotherly Game has learned, from a source with details of the scouting trip, that the Philadelphia Union were looking at Serie B players, with a focus thought to be on central and south Italian clubs.

January 4's "Daily Doop" revealed that the Union were heading toward the acquisition of a player that was hyped as the team's next "big signing."

We can tell you that we are on the verge of another signing, not one we can provide great detail into since there is no finalized deal except that the coaches are wowed by "his potential to be a big time player." That came from assistant boss Rob Vartughian who also said we are at the tail end of getting a deal done with this player, so unless that flops, as deals sometimes do, expect an official announcement next week.

The source - who talked on a condition of anonimity due to any deal not yet having been made official - also informed the Brotherly Game that the transfer target would most likely play as an attacking midfielder, in his mid-to-late 20s, seemingly putting the new player at odds with Freddy Adu, who has been the highest paid player on the Union since joining the team in August of 2011.

The last bit of information provided by the source was that the player would be South American, a common theme of Union transfers since joining MLS in 2010.

Serie B has 48 foreign players with South American nationalities and six of them were listed by transfermarkt.com as natural attacking midfielders. Mariano Bogliacino (US Lecce), Adriano Mezavilla (SS Juve Stabia), Rivaldo Gonzalez (AS Bari) and Ronaldo (US Grosseto) all play for central or southern Italian teams at attacking midfield, although Ronaldo at 22 is under the age said by the source.

Also of note were Felipe Sodinha (Brescia Calcio) and David Meza (AC Cesena), both of whom play the correct position and of the age, but Brescia and Cesena are located in the north of Italy.