With the impending end of Andrea Pirlo’s playing career, New York City FC will have room on their roster to sign a new designated player if they so choose to. According to reports out of Colombia the man they want for that DP spot is another midfielder. NYCFC have made an offer to Atlético Nacional attacking-midfielder Macnelly Torres in an attempt to lure him to MLS.
Macnelly Torres is a 32-year-old attacking-midfielder (he will be 33-years-old on November 1st) that has been a key player for Atlético Nacional in recent seasons. Torres has also seen some time with the Colombian national team this World Cup Qualifying campaign.
According to HSB News, Torres received an offer from NYCFC recently and it appears his club is preparing to play without their key midfielder in the coming months. Though NYCFC aren’t alone in their pursuit of the talented Colombian. Bogota based Millionarios FC are also keen to sign a star player away from one of their rivals according to multiple reports.
This isn’t the first time a MLS side has tried to sign Torres; FC Dallas made a transfer offer for Torres this summer alongside Chilean club Colo-Colo. Colo-Colo tried to lure the Colombian back to his side after an initial loan to Nacional and selling him to Mexican side San Luis in 2011. Both clubs ended their pursuit of Torres when Nacional placed a $3 million price tag on him.
Torres plays in the same position as current designated player Maxi Moralez meaning if Macnelly Torres joins NYCFC one of them would likely be played out of position in Vieira’s favored 4-3-3 formation which is less than ideal. It is worth noting that Moralez has been played as a winger at times this season under Vieira. Moralez is not eligible to be bought down with allocation money to sub-designated player levels as per current MLS rules. According to MLS rules a club cannot use General Allocation Money to reduce more than fifty percent of a player’s Salary Budget Charge. With Maxi Moralez earning over $2 million per year, a 50% decrease would still leave him at $1 million for salary The current DP threshold is $480,625.
NYCFC would not be able to sign him until the MLS transfer window re-opens in 2018.
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