Mexico’s Carlos Vela, right, fights for the ball with Panama’s Gabriel Gomez during a friendly soccer match in Toluca, Mexico, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015. (Eduardo Verdugo, AP)
The Colorado Rapids this week confirmed the club’s interest in Mexican international striker Carlos Vela.
“Vela’s on our discovery list,” Hinchey said, confirming .
The Rapids said with pace on the wings and possibly a couple players with ideas in the final third.
Vela, 26, can play on the wing or up front. He’s scored 14 goals in 43 appearances for Mexico since 2007 and 55 goals in 152 games for Real Sociedad of Spain’s La Liga since 2011.
“We have the first crack at signing him,” Paul Bravo, Rapids vice president of soccer operations, said. “There’s a reason why he’s on our discovery list. We communicate that up as well when we do put players like that on because we don’t want to be frivolous about who we put on our discovery list.”
Each MLS team can place up to seven unsigned players on its discovery list. Last month, with MLS.
It’s unclear whether the Rapids’ would try to sign Vela or trade his rights should the Mexican international chose to come to MLS, but Bravo said Colorado has found recently it can compete financially with a lot of clubs around the world outside of the top leagues.
RELATED:
“You’re even finding the Spanish La Liga players wanting to come into this league at a price point that you never saw before,” Bravo said.
But with Vela currently under contract at Real Sociedad, Bravo was not willing to go any further in the discussion.
“What I wouldn’t want to do is speak about a player that we don’t have and player that is currently under contract at another club,” Bravo said. “Thatap disrespectful to the other club, I think itap disrespectful to the player and quite frankly itap the wrong thing to do from an operations standpoint.”
RELATED:
“Cubo” on the block?
Mexico forward Erick “Cubo” Torres (9) pushes the ball up the field as Honduras’ Jhonatan Paz (2) defends during the first half of the final of the CONCACAF men’s Olympic soccer qualifying tournament Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, in Sandy, Utah. Mexico won 2-0. (Rick Bowmer, AP)
Another Mexican international striker the Rapids have shown interest in, Erick “Cubo” Torres, 22, is , according to Sports Illustrated. The last offseason.
Bravo, however, declined to discuss Torres when asked if he would be a potential offseason target.
“Can’t talk about players that are not currently under contract with the Colorado Rapids,” Bravo said. “We are very mindful of the tampering rules within this league and we have to be respectful of that.”
this week that Torres was being shopped.
Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or @danielboniface
