Nicolas Lodeiro deal “getting close”, Boca Juniors boss says

Nicolas Lodeiro is likely leaving Boca Juniors after their Copa Libertadores run ends. At least, that’s what Boca President Daniel Angelici told Fox Sports on Thursday prior to his team’s 2-1 loss in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semifinal against Independiente Del Valle.

"It’s close, it’s close," Angelici said. "We should know by Monday."

Although Angelici doesn’t explicitly say which team Lodeiro might join, he does acknowledge that a team in the United States is a possibility and that they’ve made a good offer.

If Lodeiro is coming to MLS, it is almost certainly to the Sounders. How long the Sounders are willing to wait, though, is another issue. If Boca Juniors are eliminated in next Thursday’s second leg, the Sounders would probably be perfectly happy to wait until then. But if Boca advances, that means Lodeiro wouldn’t be available until at least the end of July and probably wouldn’t be able to suit up for the Sounders until well into August. With the Sounders' margin for error growing smaller with each week, they must be getting antsy to get someone signed sooner than later.

In that scenario, the Sounders would almost have to at least look elsewhere. They’ve been open about having several Designated Player targets and the longer it takes to get Lodeiro under contract, the more likely it is they’ll simply move to the next name on the list.