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MLS Ticker: Timbers win Fehr lottery, FC Dallas signs striker, and more

The Portland Timbers were the heavy favorites to land former U.S. Under-17 defender Mobi Fehr, and the lottery held true to the odds, giving the Timbers the lottery victory over the Seattle Sounders and San Jose Earthquakes.

Fehr, listed as a midfielder by the Timbers, will join Portland after signing with MLS in the fall. The 18-year old had trained with Portland earlier in the year and the Timbers see him as a midfielder.

“Mobi is a young, versatile player with a great deal of ability,” said Timbers GM Gavin Wilkinson. “After having the opportunity to see him in training with the club this past season, we know him to be a quality player and look forward to seeing his continued development.”

It was a busy Tuesday in MLS, as the Timbers weren’t the only team adding a player.

FC Dallas signs Brazilian forward

Brazilian playmaker Juninho isn’t the only Vasco De Gama player to make the move to Major League Soccer this winter. Brazilian forward Wesley “Pipico” Silva has signed with FC Dallas, and will join the Western Conference club up on receipt of his visa.

“Pipico is a dynamic player who gives us some depth at the forward position and allows us to transition into playing in a 4-4-2 system,” said FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman. “He is an intelligent attacking player with solid finishing ability.”

The quick forward adds depth to the Dallas forward line as Hyndman looks to move away from a one-forward system. With Blas Perez as the team’s top forward, and Fabian Castillo as another option up top.

CREW RE-SIGN O’ROURKE

The Columbus Crew re-signed veteran midfielder Danny O’Rourke on Monday, bringing back one of the team’s longest-serving players and a key leader in the locker room.

The Crew lost veteran goalkeeper Wil Hesmer in the recent MLS Re-Entry Draft, and also parted ways with centerback Julius James, but re-signing the versatile O’Rourke was a priority for a Columbus side that missed out on the playoffs in 2012.

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What do you think of these developments? See Fehr becoming a quality pro? Think Dallas can strike gold with a foreign forward for a second straight year?

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Comments

  1. Fehr is probably a long term prospect at his position, 6′ but 160, on the US U17 team last year (though apparently one of their more reliable players, on a team that won CONCACAF). More realistically they’re training him for the U20s, at which point at roughly that age a CB might start getting viable for an adult pro side.

    I find interesting that he’s a child of a Swiss father and Japanese mother and actually grew up playing in Tokyo Verdy’s youth system, still lists Tokyo as his hometown.

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  2. Don’t let Vasco da Gama name fool you. Pipico played a whopping 11 games and scored 0 goals for them. He was hardly a player for Vasco. Most of his career was spent in Serie B/C in Brazil where he has a decent scoring record. Brazilians have been hit or miss in MLS so hopefully for FCD’s sake they made a wise decision. Time will time.

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    • SC Vaslui? al-Hilal?

      That being said, compared to some of the people MLS teams pick up on foreign transfers, he does have some proven striking, double digit goals some years.

      But at 32 fresh off Romania and Saudi Arabia, you wonder what you’re getting. Least coming from Saudi Arabia he won’t complain about the summer heat?

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  3. In the few instances when I’ve seen him play, I liken him to a d-mid/cb. Decent size (needs to bulk up for MLS play) and relatively good awareness.

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  4. He went through the lottery not the draft because “According to MLS roster rules, players eligible for the weighted lottery are: “Generation adidas players signed after the MLS SuperDraft or draft eligible players to whom an MLS contract was offered but who failed to sign with the League prior to the Draft.””

    Explains why Brek Shea who also wasn’t a college player went through the superdraft but this guy isn’t.

    Also, to everybody complaining about the obscurity of the rules…I dare any casual NFL fan to tell me why Terrell Prior was drafted in the draft he was, or what it means to get Franchise Player-ed a second time in terms of salary (top 5 salary in the NFL average, not at your position like the first time), etc.

    I disagree with some of the rules (like the returning MNT allocation order) but not because they are confusing, but because they are ineffective (deter players from coming home, Americans who grew up in Columbus are a thousand times more likely to shun NY than Robbie Keane yet the latter is free to sign anywhere he pleases, so doesn’t have a great effect on parity, etc.)

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    • Terrell Pryor went in the supplemental draft because his suspension came through after the draft and he left school instead of sitting out a full year

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