Portland Timbers: An expensive, 29-year-old striker not ideal

The Portland Timbers have reportedly made a $10 million offer for Chile striker Eduardo Vargas. An expensive, 29-year-old centre-forward, however, is not an ideal acquisition.

Atlanta United have revolutionised the term ‘smart business’ in MLS. Their excellence in the transfer market, signing young, improving players and then selling them on for a profit, demands that other teams now step up to their level of efficiency.

Many MLS organisations are being found out. The older, close-to-retirement Designated Players are not as effective, the desire for youth is greater than ever, and the shift towards becoming a selling league to self-fund new investments requires clever spending in the first…