As soon as the Philadelphia Union’s 2014 season ended, head coach Jim Curtin and technical director Chris Albright hopped on a plane.
Their destination: France.
The player they had to immediately see: Fernando Aristeguieta.
In the four months since then, there were some twists and turns in the courtship of Aristegueita, a Venezuelan striker that, according to Curtin, has been “on our radar for quite some time.” At one point, it looked like the pursuit had ended when Aristeguieta was loaned from FC Nantes in France to Getafe in Spain.
But after that deal fell through, the Union restarted negotiations with Aristegueita – which led to Friday’s official announcement that the club acquired the 22-year-old striker on a loan deal with an option for a full transfer.
“We’re happy it finally happened,” Curtin told MLSsoccer.com. “I was kinda gutted when we lost him. I thought I lost him for good to Getafe in Spain. But fortunately for us, things worked out and he’s back in the picture. We’re thrilled to have him on board.”
A 22-year-old with experience on the Venezulean national team, Aristeguieta comes highly recommended by former Union forward and current soccer broadcaster Alejandro Moreno. Curtin expects to immediately plug the 6-foot-2 striker into the starting lineup, as the lone forward in a 4-2-3-1 setup that features Andrew Wenger and Sebastien Le Toux on the wings and Cristian Maidana, Vincent Nogueira and Maurice Edu in the midfield.
Curtin will also explore the possibility of pairing Aristeguieta with CJ Sapong in a two-striker setup, with Maidana – or Zach Pfeffer, who Curtin said is pushing Maidana for the starting attacking midfield spot – coming off the field and Nogueira and Edu holding down the midfield.
“I think he fits our league,” Curtin said. “He’s a forward that has good feet. He wears the No. 10 at [Nantes], a big club. He can really shoot from distance. He has an incredible work rate. He’s a big, strong kid and a good person too when you sit down and talk with him.”
Peharps the best part of all is his aerial ability – which, coupled with Sapong, veteran Conor Casey and rookie Dzenan Catic, should make the Union much more proficient on corner kicks than in years past.
“Heading the ball in the box, he’s as good as I’ve seen,” Curtin said, “We’re gonna be dangerous on set pieces. Fernando will really add to that.”
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Like center back Steven Vitoria – who came over on loan from Benfica last week – Aristeguieta was struggling to get playing time at a European first-division club. That led to the striker wanting more minutes elsewhere and an opportunity for the Union to be, according to Curtin, “the beneficiary of his tough situation.”
Now, the Union expect a hungry player eager to score goals and make a mark in a new league. They also expect a relatively smooth transition because of some similarities between Ligue 1 and MLS.
“I think it’s a league where players translate quickly to MLS because they’re used to the physicality,” Curtin said. “It’s a more technical and more tactical league than MLS but the athleticism is similar.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on the kid, but I do see him as a guy set up to score goals in MLS."
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
