Less than two weeks from their debut match in MLS, Inter Miami's inaugural roster took a giant step forward on Monday with the official confirmation of Mexico international Rodolfo Pizarro's arrival from Liga MX champions Monterrey.
After announcing young Argentine Matias Pellegrini as their first Designated Player last year, a myriad of big names have been linked with joining David Beckham and co. in Miami. In Pizarro, Miami believes they have got their man — although he may not be the last major piece to arrive before their season kicks off against LAFC on March 1.
Miami haven't been anything that resembles cheap, but they have been responsible. They weren't opulent for the sake of it. Sustainable. A model that more closely resembles MLS 3.0, and sporting director Paul McDonough's former employers, Atlanta United.
They still expect their expansion season to be a dream. As the squad has synthesized, piece by piece by pulling a few pricey Designated Players along with a handful of intriguing prospects as well as their share of MLS veterans, Miami are nearly there.
Blend of high-end talent, MLS vets and youth
In a star-driven city, it starts at the top. Miami's capture of Pizarro — after a laborious saga, with the deal careening from done to dead back to done over a few weeks — carries the squad up a tier. The ambitious No. 10 will carry the creative burden, with a number of budding young talents around him.
A pair of those were Miami's first signings. Inter's acquisition of a pair of Argentine 19-year-old attackers, Pellegrini and Julian Carranza, signaled their intent to look more like Atlanta United in 2017 then NYCFC in 2015. Pellegrini was added to the roster as a DP and Carranza below that threshold, despite a reported $6 million transfer fee. Impressive cap gymnastics.
Miami filled out the squad with other intriguing, high-potential youngsters like DM/CB Christian Makoun and CB Andres Reyes. They have four South Americans aged 20 or younger as well as the Nos. 1 and 3 selections in this year's MLS SuperDraft, in Robbie Robinson and Dylan Nealis. Nealis may well be the club's starting right back and whispers are that Robinson is impressing already in preseason. Good timing, too, with Carranza out 10-12 weeks and a DP forward yet to be signed.
“When I met with Robbie, I said to him 'look, it might be hard for you to step in and play for us right away,'" McDonough told MLSsoccer.com after the draft. "What I liked about him is that he responded: ‘If you don’t think I can play for you, why are you going to draft me?’"
Their flair for potential and youth has been grounded with MLS veterans, led by Luis Robles, Wil Trapp and Roman Torres. The trio have 489 MLS regular-season appearances as well as 53 Audi MLS Cup Playoff matches played. Those three are expected to start while veterans Juan Agudelo and Lee Nguyen are ostensibly slated to come off the bench. Not bad. Don't forget about Ben Sweat and Victor Ulloa, either.
Also not to be overlooked: Miami have worked wonders on the green card front. They sorted green cards for Carranza and Pellegrini before either turned up for preseason training, thus won't count as international players. With the amount of international talent Miami have, it's massively valuable.
What's next?
Well, there's still one DP slot available.
That was earmarked for Club America and Colombia national team striker Roger Martinez, but it appears any potential deal can be taken off life support and a time of death assigned.
"He is someone we spoke to Club America about," McDonough told reporters Friday. "It’s proved to be very difficult, no secret about that. If it is something that could’ve been done, he would have interested me to bring to the club. With his age/price would have fit into my DP strategy."
The club are high on Carranza but that wouldn't preclude the final DP spot going to a forward, although the latest reports suggest Miami are also interested in Boca Juniors midfielder Agustin Almendra in a potential $10 million deal. Almendra, who turned 20 last week, is dubbed in the headlines as the next Juan Roman Riquelme.
At any rate, McDonough has been on the record at every turn of having all three DPs signed by opening day and, if that proves implausible, then ASAP once the season starts. The plan is not to wait until the summer. Another high-end talent may well take this team up another tier in the Eastern Conference.
“The goal for us is to try and fill now, to come out of the gates and be successful from day one," McDonough told MLSsoccer.com in January. "With the major tournaments like Copa America and the Euros, if you wait to sign a DP in the summer, the impact he can have would be very minimal.”
Outside of that, McDonough told reporters he plans to add another central midfielder from abroad. With Trapp and Victor Ulloa the presumed starters, and Makoun ostensibly the next option, another body could be useful, particularly when wanting a defensive boost from the Trapp/Ulloa pairing.
As it stands...
Miami's roster is not top-heavy as could have been reasonably expected. They're at least two deep everywhere, with a number of versatile players. That's vital in the modern game, particularly so in a salary-capped MLS. Makoun is a rotational option at both defensive mid and center back. Agudelo, Jerome Kiesewetter and Robinson can play up top or on the wings.
If Figal is Leandro Gonzalez Pirez 2.0 then Miami will be in business.
Here's our best shot at the club's current depth chart (Carranza is at the bottom of center forward group because of his current injury):
