Charlotte FC’s recent moves for forward ‘firepower’ add attacking flexibility, depth
.jpg "Charlotte FC signed Colombian forward Kerwin Vargas, who joins the MLS expansion club on a permanent transfer from Portuguese club C.D. Feirense.")
Charlotte FC’s roster got a boost with the additions of two forwards before the final day of Major League Soccer’s primary transfer window on Wednesday.
The expansion club, in its inaugural season, this week added Kerwin Vargas, a 20-year-old Colombian player who’s performed well in the Portuguese men’s second division. Charlotte also traded up to $400,000 in general allocation money ($225,000 guaranteed) to the Colorado Rapids to bring over dynamic forward Andre Shinyashiki, a move largely viewed as beneficial for both clubs.
“We wanted to give (head coach) Miguel (Ángel Ramírez) more firepower,” Charlotte FC sporting director Zoran Krneta told The Charlotte Observer. “We wanted to give him more options. With Kerwin and Andre, they can play winger or striker, which gives us more flexibility and options.”
Gaps in its attacking line cost Charlotte FC early in the regular season after the club did not complete a string of intended deals to add wingers. It wasn’t until its third MLS match that Charlotte scored its first-ever goal, knocked in by defender Adam Armour (who will likely miss the remainder of the season due to a meniscus injury). The arrival of Shinyashiki and Vargas is expected to add necessary reinforcement to Charlotte FC’s front line.
Charlotte FC’s contingent of strikers now consists of Polish designated player Karol Świderski, who holds the team-high number of goals scored at four, former Nashville striker Daniel Ríos, Shinyashiki and Brazilian forward Vinicius Mello, who’s been out for all of Charlotte’s matches so far while recovering from surgeries for a foot injury. Charlotte’s wingers include Polish designated player Kamil Jóźwiak, as well as former D.C. United forward Yordy Reyna and former Austin F.C. forward McKinze Gaines, in addition to Vargas.
Vargas, like Mello, joins Charlotte as part of the league’s U-22 Initiative, which allows teams to add up to three players 22 years old or younger at a reduced salary budget charge. Vargas is an unproven talent in MLS, but he’s been productive playing as a winger for his former club Feirense, scoring seven goals in 28 league matches. Krneta said that Charlotte FC heavily scouted Vargas, watching him play live three times and mining video.
“He’s a very exciting player. He’s very fast, very direct, pacy, and likes to take players one-on-one,” Krneta said. “I think he has huge potential.”
Vargas, however, won’t be immediately available to play for the club. Krneta estimated that it will take at least three more weeks for the visa process to be finalized for Vargas, a native of Santa Marta, Colombia. Shinyashiki’s inter-league move means that he is available to train and play as soon as this week.
In terms of Charlotte FC’s international roster slots, for which Vargas is expected to fill one while Shinyashiki holds domestic status, Krneta said that English defender Anton Walkes is undergoing his green card interview this week, and will likely miss this weekend’s home match against Inter Miami on Saturday for the processes.
Walkes securing a green card is pertinent because Charlotte FC has 11 international roster slots. It acquired three more than the league-provided eight in December in exchange for $750,000 total in general allocation money. Currently all of them are filled with the arrival of Jóźwiak.
Walkes receiving domestic status would free up Charlotte FC’s final international roster slot for Vargas before the secondary transfer window opens on July 7. Krneta previously told The Athletic that was the league-set deadline for the team to convert international players who receive green cards to domestic players.
“We’ll cover it,” Krneta said. “We had this interview set some time ago. This is why we made the final move to bring Kerwin.”
Also set some time ago was the club’s interest in 2019 MLS Rookie of the Year Shinyashiki. Krneta said that Charlotte attempted a trade with the Rapids to bring on Shinyashiki at the beginning of pre-season, but it depended on U.S. Men’s National Team forward Gyasi Zardes joining the Rapids from Columbus. That move was finalized in late April, and thus freed up Shinyashiki for Charlotte FC in a deal that Krneta called a “no-brainer.”
“It was very well documented that we lost some players last moment,” Krneta said, referencing Charlotte’s reportedly attempted deals for Darwin Machís, Paul Arriola and Jóźwiak previously. “But once we lost them, we didn’t really want to panic buy and try to replace them with players we did not like enough or did not believe in or did not think they fit in the system or fit in the team.”
“So basically, we waited,” Krneta continued. “We waited for Kerwin. We waited for Andre.”
He said that with the latest additions, the front office sees Charlotte FC as having its “blocks already built.” He added that at a majority of the players fans see now will return next season.
“I would say (Charlotte FC is) on a good path to be very, very, very good towards the end of the season and even better next season,” Krenta said. “And that’s the plan.”
“Our strategy was always to be very careful with who we’re bringing on and players we think fit the system, they fit the club and fit what we want to do,” Krneta said separately. “We’re building the roster, as we’ve said many times, not for this season. We’re building the roster to be very competitive, better, better, much better, next season, and better a third season. And this is what we believe is the right way for an expansion club to build a roster.”
Club leadership before the season outlined a goal of not only making the MLS playoffs in its inaugural year, but hosting a playoff match, which would mean finishing as a top-four team in the Eastern Conference. After 10 regular season games, playoff hosting duties seem distant for the Charlotte FC team sitting 10th of 14 teams in its conference, especially after a latest 2-1 loss on the road against Orlando City.
But Charlotte FC returns Saturday (3:30 p.m. vs. Inter Miami) to Bank of America Stadium, where the popular young club has performed its best. There are still 24 games to go in the regular season and the latest roster additions mean that long-needed attacking depth will soon arrive for Charlotte FC with the hope that better results follow.
