Inter Miami seeks to sign reinforcements in July
The MLS season is almost at the midway point, and Inter Miami aims to sign a few new players during the July transfer window to help in the push for the playoffs.
“The squad needs one or two bits and pieces to give us a little lift in the attacking areas with [forward] Robbie [Robinson] out and Mo [Adams] leaving,” said coach Phil Neville. “We’re working day and night to bring in the right person with the right character to fit in with this group.”
According to sources, among the players in talks with Inter Miami is Corentin Jean, a 26-year-old winger/forward who plays for RC Lens in France and played with French youth national teams.
“We’ve got our targets and lists,” Neville said.
“The biggest thing since I got to MLS is that salary cap has no give. It is what it is.
You speak to agents and players, who are used to squeezing more out in European football, and here the offer we put on the table is the only offer we can have.”
HIGUAIN WANTS BIGGER ROLE
Forward Gonzalo Higuain, who has been relegated to the bench despite being the third-highest-paid player in MLS ($5.1 million), hopes to make a bigger impact the rest of the season.
“Gonzalo will score goals, I’m convinced,” Neville said. “He’s training like an absolute beast. Every week when he gets a little setback and doesn’t get on the field he comes back and trains like a champion. We’ve got 20 games left and we need him. This weekend, and then [against] Dallas, Orlando, he will feature heavily.”
Higuain, who did not get into the game against Atlanta, has asked Neville to put him back in the starting lineup.
“He feels the key is to start games, he finds coming on for 30 minutes a little foreign to what he’s been used to in his career,” Neville said. “We have to get the balance right between games where he can have a maximum impact and games where we need a different type of player. You’re at that stage of your career when it’s hard to accept. I struggled with it, and it took me to retirement, the realization that I could no longer compete. He has been honest, said this is the first team he’s been on that he has not had success. He wants to finish as a winner.”
THIS AND THAT
Robinson is in Boston, recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his hamstring. He will rejoin the team after July 4.
“The boy isn’t having any luck with injuries,” Neville said. “This injury is like a 1-in-100 chance. He is suffering. We will give him lots of support. The aim is to get him back this
season. It’s a long shot, but we told him if he works hard, he has a chance.”
Two other players unavailable are left back Brek Shea, who had a setback from a hamstring injury, and goalkeeper Nick Marsman, who is dealing with a back injury and was absent from Thursday’s practice for a personal reason. Both are due back in the next week or two.
Inter Miami announced Thursday a three-year partnership with iconic Cuban coffee brand Café Bustelo.
The deal includes a Café Bustelo Ventanita at DRV PNK Stadium in the West concourse behind section 103. It will debut this Saturday as Inter Miami takes on Minnesota United at 8 p.m.
The menu will include cafe con leche, cafecito, colada, cortadito, picadillo
empanadas and guava pastries.
Inter Miami right back DeAndre Yedlin has been a big fan of Café Bustelo for four years, ever since he started dating his girlfriend, who is Dominican. When he played in Turkey, he had visiting friends and relatives bring him bricks of the coffee. He joked that he may make a run to the stadium ventanita during halftime or throw-ins.