ORLANDO, Fla. – It worked pretty well the first time LAFC invested heavily in a highly-rated teenage attacker from Uruguayan club Peñarol, so why not try again?
LAFC are reportedly set to fill their vacant third Designated Player slot in a huge deal to sign versatile forward Brian Rodriguez from Peñarol, adding another Uruguayan to go alongside Diego Rossi.
Rossi, the previous Peñarol product signed by LAFC, hopes the club gets the deal done.
"I don't know if it's confirmed yet, but he's a good player," Rossi told media after All-Star training on Monday. "I don't know him personally but I know that he's a very good guy, he would help us a lot. That's good. I hope this gets confirmed so we have him with us."
He added it would be cool to have another Uruguayan in the locker room.
Rodriguez, 19, featured in the U-20 World Cup for Uruguay a few months ago and recently broke through into the Peñarol first team, where he has a goal and four assists across nine league appearances.
"I know him, I know he’s a very good player, a good talent from Uruguay," Seattle Sounders' Uruguayan star Nico Lodeiro said. "So I want him to come here because the league now is very good and if he comes here he can go in a very good league – and also very good country, if he chooses MLS I think it’s a very good choice."
Lodeiro, who joined the league in 2016 and has had great success in Seattle, has proved to be an example for fellow Uruguayans to follow him to MLS.
"I think so," Lodeiro said when asked if he paved the way for Uruguayans in MLS. "Now in Uruguay everybody’s watching the MLS – not just for me, [but] because nowadays this league is one of the more important leagues in the world. Europe is always very good and very important, but also now MLS is one of the best leagues in the world. So every player asks me about the league, [even] the big stars talk with me about the league, they want to know. ... It’s a good place to play soccer, you can enjoy the life and everything."
