The Portland Timbers’ major offseason business is almost complete. On Friday, the Timbers signed Cristhian Paredes, their targeted-allocation-money-level box-to-box midfielder, on loan from Liga MX powerhouse Club America with an option to buy.
The Timbers’ interest in Paredes, 19, has been reported as far back as December but picked up considerable steam within the last two weeks as reports out of Paraguay and Mexico emerged indicating the Timbers were on the verge of signing the central midfielder.
The young Paraguayan made his professional debut for Club Sol de America at the age of 17, when he started 30 games and scored four goals for los Danzarines.