Former Portland Timbers coach Caleb Porter will soon be announced as the next coach of the Crew, a source familiar with the negotiations told The Dispatch on Thursday night.

The Athletic was the first to report that Porter was closing in on a deal with the Crew. This report made for some confusion because, just two days before, it had reported that Porter was deep in negotiations to be the next coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The confusion was cleared up by a high-level source who reached out to The Dispatch. Porter is basically a done deal.

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When will it be announced? That is a ticklish question. The Crew’s new owners are not yet in place officially because the sales agreement is not quite finished.

Neither Porter nor his agent returned phone calls or answered texts from The Dispatch.

By all accounts, Porter is a brilliant (if sometimes prickly) coach. His record is certainly sterling. And his name has cachet as the new owners — the Edwards and Haslam families — prepare for a new era.

Porter, 43, coached the University of Akron to a national title in 2010. After a stint coaching the U.S. National U-23 team, he was hired by the Timbers. In five seasons in Portland, he led the team to two Western Conference titles and an MLS Cup championship.

Crew fans remember the 2015 MLS Cup: Porter’s Timbers beat the Crew at Mapfre Stadium.

Porter signed a long-term contract with the Timbers in 2016. In a surprise move, he parted ways with the club in November 2017. The parting was described as a mutual agreement.

In subsequent interviews, Porter said he had done what he could with the Timbers and wanted time off to recharge his batteries. He has said he would know what his next job would be when he saw it. Apparently, he saw it in Columbus.

It is entirely likely that Porter is already hard at work. The new Crew has to get busy, immediately. The first international transfer window opens Jan. 1. The MLS Player Combine is in Orlando Jan. 3-9. The SuperDraft is in Chicago Jan. 11. Training camps open the third week of January.

Technically, the league still owns the team. The prospective new owners are waiting on the sales paperwork and a rubber stamp. Given the pressure on soccer operations, the new owners and/or the league may be compelled to make some important announcements before the franchise sale is final.

Former Crew coach and Gregg Berhalter, who on Dec. 2 departed to take the helm of the U.S. men’s national team, had total power over the soccer operations. His duties may be divided among a coach, a sporting director (player-personnel chief) and maybe even a general manager for the business side of the operations (as the academy/development side may be retooled, for example).

Former New York Red Bulls sporting director Ali Curtis and longtime MLS and men’s national team coach Bruce Arena have reportedly interviewed with the Crew. It looks as if Curtis is a top prospect for the sporting director’s job and Arena might be a John Davidson-like presence as GM.

Porter, Crew assistant coach Josh Wolff and Guillermo Barros Schelotto were among the candidates for the coaching job. On Thursday, Schelotto parted ways with the Argentine club Boca Juniors — and he is expected, as has been rumored, to be next in line for the Atlanta United job. Wolff has interviewed with FC Dallas.

The Edwards and Haslam families have for weeks been involved in the search for a new coach (and sporting director and, perhaps, general manager).

Getting Porter shows they are serious.

marace@dispatch.com

@MichaelArace1