Versatile forward Santos ready for U.S. challenge

The first domino in Ernst Tanner’s first offseason on the job fell Friday, with the Union announcing the signing of Brazilian forward Sergio Santos.

The 24-year-old isn’t exactly a household name, having spent the last four seasons at Chilean club Audax Italiano. But he fits the mold of an under-the-radar Tanner signing, a young player that the German sporting director views as a fast riser whose development could up his value in the next few years.

“He’s an upcoming young striker,” Tanner said in a conference call from a scouting trip to Europe Friday. “He had a fantastic season over in Chile. So for sure, we had a lot of games watching him and following him and video, but finally we traveled down twice and had to watch him live and also had to meet him. I was once there as well and I think he’s a perfect fit for our future playing style. He can cover quite a lot of positions in attack. So he can play almost everything there.”

Santos scored nine goals and two assists in 16 games for Audax, which finished 10th in the 16-team Primera Division in 2018. He’s played 56 games in all competitions for Audax over four seasons, scoring 19 goals and seven assists.

“I think one of the things that really drew me to the U.S. and MLS is that it offered me great opportunities to become a better player,” Santos said through a translator. “I’m a very distinct player in how I play the game. The Union front office came down to see me in Chile and get to know me as a player, and I thought that was very interesting that they took time to come all the way down there and meet me and get to know me as a player a little bit.”

Tanner listed a number of Santos’ ideal attributes. At 6-foot, he has the hold-up play to excel as a center forward, but his speed and technique probably project him as a winger against the larger center backs populating MLS. He’s naturally left-footed, a deficit in the Union roster that Tanner identified from his first day on the job.

Santos echoed talking points about his penchant for pressuring opponents, a characteristic of increased importance in the high-pressing system Tanner will implement.

No details were given on the length of Santos’ deal, but Tanner confirmed international reports that the Union paid a $500,000 buyout clause in Santos’ contract with Aduax. The deal was secured using Targeted Allocation Money.

Mexican club Necaxa showed interest in Santos, per reports, but the Union beat them to his signature, which Tanner credits to the vision they laid out.

“I think the discussions we had with the player and the prospective we offered to him about how we would like to play, how we see him, how he could fit into our team, finally convinced him probably more than the more money he could earn,” Tanner said. “… I don’t think he was going for the money; that’s obvious. He was going for his development. That’s what we made clear to him, that he will get the development here, and obviously it was convincing to him.”

Santos’ arrival deepens the Union’s forward logjam. While it remains to be seen what formation Tanner and coach Jim Curtin will use, the Union of the past exclusively deployed a one-forward system. With Tanner stating his preference to see Fafa Picault, who scored 10 goals last season, utilized as a forward more than as a winger, he would find himself competing with fellow 10-goal man Cory Burke, CJ Sapong, David Accam and Santos for minutes.

Part of Santos’ appeal is his ability to play out wide, as a No. 9 or as a second striker, a similar skill set to both Accam and Picault.

“He’s different than all of the strikers we have, and that’s the reason we are going for him,” Tanner said. “It’s not only the fact that he’s left-footed that makes a difference, but the way he’s playing. … I think he is really the one we were looking for and that is the reason we were trying hard to get him.”

Santos said he spoke to several contacts about MLS, whose profile is growing in South America with the signing of players like Atlanta United’s Ezequiel Barco. MLS’s winter sales of players to Europe have burnished its reputation as a league where players can develop and leap onto the radars of bigger clubs.

That factored into Santos’ desire to come to the States.

“We’re a family here at this club in Chile, and that really appealed to me,” he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to be a family up there in the United States, and I hope I score a lot of goals, win some championships and bring a lot of happiness to the club.”