The full slate of rumored Philadelphia Union transactions has now been completed, as the team announced they have completed the transfer for Roger Torres' rights from Colombian club America de Cali. Terms of the loan were not disclosed, but coach Peter Nowak strongly implied that the departures of Faryd Mondragon and Sebastien Le Toux gave the Union the financial flexibility to make this move.
"It's all around the future, it's not around one player," Union manager Peter Nowak said on a conference call with reporters. "In the past two years we've built a good foundation to express that and to build it toward the future."
While completing the Torres transfer clearly makes sense, it does highlight just how young the Union have become. Just five of the 23 players currently listed on the Union's roster are older than 25 and just two are at least 30. Danny Califf qualifies as the oldest player at 31. Thirteen of those 23 would be eligible for U-23 teams and six of them aren't even old enough to drink.
Torres, like many of these young players, has shown flashes of brilliance. His three goals and eight assists have come in a little less than 1,900 minutes of MLS play over two seasons. The signing seems to indicate he'll be given a chance to prove he can build on that success this year.
For more on the signing, be sure to check out Union blog Brotherly Game.