Olivier Tremblay covers the Impact for MLSsoccer.com
MONTREAL – Santiago Gonzalez is a Montreal Impact player. A U16 Montreal Impact player, that is.
But a namesake is on the cards, as Montreal are currently negotiating to sign Uruguayan forward Santiago Gonzalez.
The 21-year-old from Montevideo has been playing for hometown club Sud América, which won promotion to the Uruguayan top flight as second division champions in 2012-13. The description of Gonzalez given by head coach Frank Klopas, who said the club was “hopeful that things will pan out,” fits the needs outlined by sporting director Nick De Santis last week: a strong, quick forward with a good soccer IQ.
“He’s got pace, he’s physically strong,” Klopas told reporters on Tuesday. “You can play to feet, play in depth. He drifts out wide at times. I think they’ve used him in a 4-3-3 out wide at times with the youth national team, but he can play up top, and he’s physically very strong and makes smart runs. … He’s got good feet. If it works out, it could be a good addition to the club, and he’s a young player that you can build, that you can have for years to come.”
In his first season in the Uruguayan football elite, Gonzalez scored 5 goals in 14 games, most recently when Sud America drew 1-1 at Rentistas on December 7.
Gonzalez was not on the squad sheet this weekend, however, when Sud América kicked off the 2014 Clausura season with a 3-0 home win against Juventud. This would match the news relayed by a Sud América blog last Friday, which tweeted that Gonzalez had left the club for “an MLS team owned by Canadians.”
Gonzalez recently followed the Impact’s Twitter account himself.
