Whitecaps sign ball-winning midfielder
Paraguayan international fills final Designated Player spot on team roster
Andrés Cubas has been on the Vancouver Whitecaps' mind for a while.
In their post-season post-mortem in December, they'd identified the areas they thought they needed to upgrade, and the Nîmes Olympique defensive midfielder was one of their top three desired profiles. By January, he was their No. 1 target.
By Thursday morning, when the deal was officially announced, with the Caps in the throes of the worst start in team history, that upgrade desire has become a necessity. There is a massive Cubasshaped hole in Vancouver's midfield, which has played no small part in the 1-6-1 record to date.
The Paraguayan international fills the final Designated Player spot on the team's roster, coming to Vancouver for a four-year deal and a reported US$3 million transfer fee from the Ligue 2 club in France.
“We could have fixed the position earlier with just another signing, but we were really high on him. We think that he is the ... difference maker in that position as Ryan Gauld is at his,” said sporting director and CEO Axel Schuster.
“We wanted to fix it in December or January. But we also wanted to fix it with a player where we are 100 per cent convinced that he's not just a little bit of a better fit, that he is a player who can make a difference in the middle, long term for this club.
“It was a waiting game for the right guy. We are up to wait. And now we have to get him in and to show everyone that he is the right guy.”
The 25-year-old Cubas, who is classified as a “Max TAM” (Targeted Allocation Money) DP with a salary charge of US$1,612,500, led Ligue 2 in combined tackles and interceptions in 2021-22, after Nimes was relegated from Ligue 1 the previous year. The five-foot-six, 145-pound honey badger No. 6 is leading Ligue 2 in successful tackles per match with 2.6 and second most interceptions with 2.7 across 18 starts and 21 appearances.
While the Caps wanted him, and he wanted to come, Nîmes was reluctant to part ways with Cubas as they were still fighting for promotion back to Ligue 1. They're now mid-pack in the second division, with three games left before their season ends on May 14.
But the Whitecaps' new midfielder is still a long way from donning the Hoop at B.C. Place. He still has to obtain work permits in the U.S. and Canada, although he did have a travel visa to the U.S. from his travels with the Paraguayan national team, but will still take time to get integrated into the lineup and system. He's currently with his family in Argentina — he's a dual citizen with Argentina — awaiting the paperwork to allow them to move to Vancouver.
The words “visa process” are always triggering for Whitecaps fans, who remember the difficulty that cost them DP left back Ali Adnan. Schuster wouldn't commit to a debut date, range or even if he was optimistic, but pointed out his current visa puts him ahead of the curve, and that he is getting his biometrics recorded on Friday, which is something other players have waited months for.
“Is that now good and will it really help at the end of the process? I don't know,” he said. “I try to remain optimistic without totally freaking out because I don't want to be too frustrated later. The good thing is that there is movement in this process. Let's hope that is a good sign.”
The Whitecaps are pinning their hopes on a resurgence on the upcoming four-game homestand, which includes a Canadian Championship game against Valour FC. But while they have lots to fix ahead of Cubas's arrival, the most important is to get healthy in the two weeks off they will have had before their date with Toronto FC on May 8.
Injuries have meant they've missed their keystone DP Ryan Gauld, two U22 initiative players in Caio Alexandre and Deiber Caicedo, a Canadian international in Cristian Gutierrez, and key No. 8 midfielder in Leo Owusu.
“All of that hurts us and that's something we can fix and should fix in the short term,” said Schuster. “I don't want the guys to think Cubas will now be the saviour of our whole game and season. We have work that has to be done in these two weeks and we have to show another face (when) we play against Toronto on Mother's Day.”
The defensive issues in midfield aren't the only problem the Whitecaps are looking for a solution to. With the primary transfer window closing on May 4, they are keen to move some of their mountain of allocation money to shore up another position.
A fully healthy Whitecaps team is one that can compete for a playoff spot, but it also means the Caps will have a backlog of players to roll out.
“Maybe we want to balance the squad a little bit more. But we don't feel bad about our squad in general. We are very unhappy with the results, and we are really unhappy with the availability of our players right now,” said Schuster. “I think other than a player (leaving) us, it will be not easy to bring in another player who is a starter for this team.
But again, if you have all players available, you will also figure out that a few players that expect ... that they would will start in every game will not start and that maybe leads to a discussion that the player wants to leave in summer.
“We are open (to trades). We are open, we have allocation money. We are in talks with a lot of MLS clubs, but I cannot say here that we definitely will do something. But I would also say the likelihood that something else happens is higher than the other way around.”