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Sebastian Blanco contract

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Portland Timbers

Timbers re-sign Sebastian Blanco through 2023

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers have re-signed midfielder Sebastian Blanco to a Designated Player deal through the 2023 season, the club announced today.

MLSsoccer.com’s Tom Bogert first reported the news on Feb. 8th.

Last week, Bogert reported that Blanco’s deal would be in the Targeted Allocation Money range, giving Portland an open DP spot. But Blanco will stay a DP after all.

This followed reports of Blanco’s re-signing from ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle the day before.

Blanco, 33, has 42 goals and 38 assists in 148 career matches for Portland in all competitions. He finished 2021 with 0.53 goals per 90 minutes (96th percentile among MLS attacking mids), 0.46 assists/90 (98th percentile), and 0.92 goal-creating actions/90 (99th percentile) after coming off a torn ACL in 2020.

After joining Portland as a Designated Player in 2017, Blanco immediately helped the Timbers to a first-place finish in the Western Conference. Portland finished as MLS Cup runners-up in 2018 and have made the MLS Cup Playoffs during each of Blanco’s five seasons.

Blanco being a DP under the maximum budget charge ($1,612,500) allows Portland to keep all three under-22 spots. The Timbers already have two under-22 signings on their roster (Santiago Moreno and David Ayala).

Had Portland used their third DP slot on a player 23 or older who makes more than the max, they would only get one U-22 spot.

For reference, there are only 34 players in MLS who made more than the $1.625 million max in guaranteed compensation last year.

The re-signing of Blanco was a top priority for the club this offseason, especially after the departure of club legend and fellow Argentine Diego Valeri to Lanús. Blanco was linked to Boca Juniors after rumors went back and forth about his future in Portland.

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Portland Timbers

Rumor: Sebastian Giovinco to Portland?

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

The Portland Timbers are interested in former MLS MVP Sebastian Giovinco, per Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Sports.

“A concrete negotiation could start soon,” the translated article reads.

Giovinco, who will turn 35 later this month, spent his last two seasons at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia. His contract reached a mutual termination last August.

Giovinco in MLS

Giovinco shined in MLS after leaving Juventus for Toronto FC.

The attacking midfielder burst onto the scene in 2015, winning MLS MVP, MLS Newcomer of the Year, and the MLS Golden Boot. He also led the Reds to a Canadian treble (MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, Canadian Cup) in 2016.

The Italian played 142 matches for Toronto FC across all competitions from 2015-18, bagging 83 goals and 57 assists during that span. He is considered a TFC club legend and was named one of MLS’ top 25 players of all-time last season.

MLS interest

The former Juventus player has been flirting with an MLS return for a while now.

Last month, he expressed interest in returning to Toronto during an exclusive interview with Laura Armstrong of the Toronto Star. He even attended a TFC match. However, Toronto signed Serie A star Lorenzo Insigne instead.

The former Juventus player was also linked to the Los Angeles Galaxy about a year ago.

Timbers’ need

From a roster standpoint, this makes sense. The Timbers may need to fill a playmaking midfield spot soon, unless they can re-sign Sebastián Blanco. Portland are set to lose Diego Valeri from the same position as well.

The Timbers have one Designated Player roster spot open without Blanco. Giovinco wanted to be a DP in a Toronto return.

Blanco removed the Timbers from his Instagram bio yesterday amid a lengthy offseason negotiation saga.

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Portland Timbers

Sebastian Blanco set to leave Portland Timbers

by Charlie Folkestad
written by Charlie Folkestad

Portland Timbers midfielder Sebastián Blanco will leave the club, according to reports from TyC Sports’ Juli Michels on Sunday, Jan. 2.

Blanco, who will turn 34 in March 2022, made 148 appearances for Portland since joining the club in 2017. His contract expired at the end of the 2021 season. The club was working on re-signing Blanco as soon as the offseason began.

Blanco posted a foreboding message on his Instagram story earlier in the day.

According to Micheles’ report, the Timbers were close to reaching an agreement before it fell through. Blanco may land somewhere else in MLS, where he’s been prolific for the past five seasons.

If the report is true, Portland will have an open Designated Player roster spot heading into 2022.

** 1/2/22 update **

ESPN’s Taylor Twellman has added more context to the Blanco situation.

As with Diego Valeri a few years ago, the Timbers are looking to sign a former DP to a targeted allocation money-level deal. 

** another 1/2/22 update **

Area Sports Network has confirmed the report and added a little more context. Apparently negotiations for a three-year deal were different than what the contract read.

The same account replied to that above tweet saying:

“From the player’s side, they express total surprise, and this week they will begin to evaluate options, always with MLS as the main option.”

Looks like the deal blindsided Blanco’s camp and that he could be on the move to somewhere else in MLS. 

** another 1/2/22 update **

Timbers owner Merritt Paulson weighs in on the situation, saying “we expect to keep him” on Instagram.

This statement might quiet the rumors a bit because Paulson has to be aware of the smoke from earlier today (see above). If MP has this kind of confidence after everything from earlier, maybe that’s a good sign.

** 1/3 update **

Paulson has deleted the above comment. Maybe he’s backtracking a bit?

** 1/4 update **

A report from El Espectador says Blanco is being pursued by Boca Juniors.

This is probably leverage-building by Blanco’s camp. Releasing these reports is commonplace in a situation where a player’s value is in question. Whether or not this interest from Boca is legitimate, it can help drive up Blanco’s value in negotiations with MLS teams.

This article may be updated with further information.

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