Thirteen million dollars and a hole in the attack
Portland have sold their top scorer just days before the close of the secondary transfer window. Kevin Kelsy, 22, is joining the Glasgow Rangers for 13 million dollars, a fee the Timbers decided was too good to turn down.
The Venezuelan had scored nine league goals this season. Nearly twice as many as the club’s second-leading scorer, Kristoffer Velde, who has been stuck on five. That kind of output was exactly what caught the eye in Scotland.
The timing raises eyebrows. Portland (8-9-4, 28 points) have lost only once in their last seven MLS games and have climbed back into ninth place in the Western Conference, right in the middle of the playoff scramble. The club now has until 2 September to bring in a replacement up front.
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Cifuentes backs the call, with reservations
Marti Cifuentes made no attempt to hide the internal debate that came before the decision.
“Obviously it was a club decision as well, so we talked through the pros and the cons,” the Timbers coach said. “Kevin was doing good work, he’s a talented young striker. But the aim will always be to have total faith in Ned and his staff so we’re stronger by the end of the window.”
The Ned in question is Ned Grabavoy, the club’s sporting director, who now has just a handful of days to find the replacement.
Austin heads into Providence Park bruised
On the other side on Saturday night, Austin FC (5-10-6, 21 points) are coming off a Leagues Cup exit after a 2-0 defeat to Toluca on Wednesday. Defender Joseph Rosales was sent off five minutes before half-time for a challenge on Federico Pereira, but he will be available here because the red card was not shown in MLS, so the suspension does not carry over into the league.
Second from bottom in the West, the Texas club are seven points off the qualification spots with 13 matches left. Interim coach Davy Arnaud is not ready to write the season off just yet.
“If it doesn’t make you proud of what the guys did tonight and confident they can keep this going… It was a big test, and they answered it in a really good way. It makes me look forward to the rest of the year,” he said after the exit.
Myrto Uzuni, with six goals this season, remains Austin’s main threat. Kelsy had already gone past that total on his own before packing his bags.
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