The Houston Dynamo acquired midfielder Matías Vera on a full transfer from San Lorenzo in the Argentinian Primera División utilizing Targeted Allocation Money, the club announced today. The transfer will be completed pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and P-1 Visa along with a completed medical.

A native of Merlo, Argentina, Vera played with O’Higgins in the Chilean Primera División in 2018 while on loan from San Lorenzo, making 25 appearances in league play and two in the Copa Chile. Primarily a defensive midfielder, he scored one goal for El Capo de Provincia and added one assist last season while helping the club improve six places in the league table and improve its goal differential by nine goals from the year prior.

“Matías comes to our club at a prime age with over 100 professional games played. He’s a player we’ve tracked as a staff for quite some time and feel will fit a very specific role within our group in the defensive midfield position,” said Dynamo Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Jordan. “We are confident his strong mentality and quality as a player will contribute to the success of our team moving forward.”

The 23-year-old began his professional career with Nueva Chicago in the Argentine Primera División in 2015. He made his debut against Banfield on April 6 of that season and has totaled 112 career appearances as a full professional, 85 of which came with Nueva Chicago from 2015-17, and has scored three goals across all competitions.

“We are excited to sign Matías because he will help us improve and will give us balance in the team. He is a natural ball winner in the midfield who is also young and a very talented distributor of the ball in the middle of the field,” said Dynamo Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera. “This past season we had difficulties when we were without Juan David Cabezas for most of the year. Now with Matías, we have someone who will create depth and competition in the middle. That is important, understanding that we are facing three competitions throughout the season.”

With the signing of Vera, the Dynamo now have seven midfielders under contract ahead of the 2019 season, including fellow Argentine Tomás Martínez, who joined the club in 2017, and 21 players under contract for 2019. Vera will occupy an international roster slot, and with his addition the Dynamo now have seven international players under contract for 2019.

TRANSACTION: The Houston Dynamo sign MF Matías Vera on a full transfer from San Lorenzo using Targeted Allocation Money, pending receipt of his ITC and P-1 Visa and a completed medical.

PLAYER PROFILE

FULL NAME: Matías Gabriel Vera

PRONUNCIATION: Mah-TEE-us VEH-ra

DATE OF BIRTH: October 26, 1995 (23 years old)

HEIGHT: 5-7

WEIGHT: 155

BIRTHPLACE: Merlo, Argentina

HOMETOWN: Merlo, Argentina

PREVIOUS CLUB: San Lorenzo (ARG)

FIFA NATIONALITY: Argentina

HOUSTON DYNAMO PLAYERS CURRENTLY UNDER CONTRACT

GOALKEEPERS (4) No. Name Pos. MLS Exp. Age Ht. Wt. FIFA Nationality 1 Tyler Deric GK 10 30 6-3 185 USA 18 Chris Seitz GK 11 31 6-3 236 USA 23 Joe Willis GK 8 30 6-5 200 USA 26 Michael Nelson GK 1 23 6-4 180 USA

DEFENDERS (6) No. Name Pos. MLS Exp. Age Ht. Wt. FIFA Nationality 2 Alejandro Fuenmayor DF 1 22 6-1 170 Venezuela 14 Adam Lundkvist DF 1 24 5-9 145 Sweden 16 Kevin Garcia DF 2 27 6-0 185 USA 20 A.J. DeLaGarza DF 10 31 5-9 150 Guam Erik McCue DF 0 17 6-3 185 USA/Sweden Chris Duvall DF 5 27 5-10 165 USA

MIDFIELDERS (7) No. Name Pos. MLS Exp. Age Ht. Wt. FIFA Nationality 5 Juan David Cabezas MF 2 26 6-0 175 Colombia 8 Memo Rodriguez MF 2 22 5-8 145 USA 10 Tomás Martínez MF 2 23 5-9 145 Argentina 24 Darwin Cerén MF 5 28 5-10 165 El Salvador 25 Eric Bird MF 2 25 5-9 175 USA 27 Boniek García MF 7 34 5-9 150 Honduras Matías Vera MF 0 23 5-7 155 Argentina