His was an acquisition that had been foreshadowed since the week after MLS Cup, when Portland Timbers president of soccer Gavin Wilkinson, technical director Ned Grabavoy, and head coach Giovanni Savarese conducted a season-ending press conference, discussing both the season that was and the season that would be.
A long-time Timbers player, Alvas Powell, was part of what had passed, starting for most of the year at right back before losing his job late in the season, after Zarek Valentin had been switch over from the left side. Among the three-to-four starting-caliber players Wilkinson intended to import, according to him, one needed to be a right back.