Boca Juniors aren’t yet ready to let Nicolas Lodeiro join Sounders

Those hoping for a quick and easy resolution to the Nicolas Lodeiro transfer saga should gird for a bit of disappointment. Despite reports suggesting Lodeiro would be in town early this week, the midfielder is still in Argentina training with Boca Juniors.

According to this tweet and others, that’s because Lodeiro’s transfer remains incomplete and very much in limbo. This comes on the heels of rampant reports following Boca Juniors’ elimination from Copa Libertadores that a fee had been agreed upon, personal terms long finalized and that Lodeiro’s move was simply a matter of smaller details coming together.

At least some of that clearly was not the case.

The Sounders have mostly kept quiet about negotiations, but there’s long been a sense that they haven’t been thrilled with the way things have gone. At one point, there were even reports they had walked away from the negotiating table.

Where this leaves the Sounders now, is no clearer. Their other top target appeared to be Oscar Romero, but he’s now gone on record saying he turned down a move to MLS even after his club had accepted a $10 million transfer fee.

The Sounders may have another backup plan, but either way time is running short. The current transfer window closes on Aug. 3, about two weeks from now.