TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS:Reports
UPDATE (Sept. 15): Houston Dynamo winger Alberth Elis is set to travel to Portugal on Wednesday to finalize a transfer to Boavista, according to a report from Diario Diez in Honduras.
And, according to the report, Houston are not wasting any time lining up the Honduras international's replacement. Argentine forward Mateo Bajamich, a name linked to Dynamo in recent weeks, is one name put forward as is Darixon Vuelto. Another Honduras international, Vuelto claimed in August that Houston had expressed an interest in signing him. The Dynamo are also said to have been interested in Joel Campbell before the former Arsenal man signed a new deal with Club Leon.
UPDATE (Sept. 12): After Houston's 2-1 defeat to FC Dallas on Saturday night, Dynamo coach Tab Ramos suggested that an imminent transfer now looks likely for Alberth Elis.
“To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure; it sounds like something is going to happen with Alberth, but at this point I can’t really expand on that because I really don’t know," Ramos said. "I know he was half in training yesterday, but there’s a good possibility that he goes overseas. I know that overall that’s what he wants."
ORIGINAL STORY (Sept. 11): After years of speculation that Honduras national team and Houston Dynamo winger Alberth Elis would make a move to Europe, the time appears to have arrived, according to Ives Galarcep of SBI Soccer.
Portugal's Boavista — the same first division club that recently acquired American defender Reggie Cannon from FC Dallas — is apparently not done recruiting from the MLS market during Portugal's primary transfer window, and is in the finalizing a deal for Elis, whose contract expires at the end of 2020.
Back in June, Elis said he had received an offer for an extension from the Dynamo, but nothing was ever formally agreed. Without that, Houston face the options of either parting ways with him now and receiving a transfer fee in return, or letting him leave at the end of the year as a free agent. However, transferring him for a fee would mean that the Dynamo would also give up right of first refusal on Elis should he ever return to MLS.
Despite not being listed on the club's injury report, he was not on the game day roster for Wednesday's 1-1 draw at the Colorado Rapids. For Saturday's game at FC Dallas, he is currently listed as questionable with a left thigh injury.
"Alberth didn't practice fully today, so it's kind of like a last-minute thing that we'll deal with to decide, probably later tonight," Houston manager Tab Ramos said on Friday during a conference call, just prior to the news emerging of a potential deal with Boavista.
Elis has been a consistent producer since arriving at the Dynamo during the middle of the 2017 season. He has 34 goals and 27 assists in 88 MLS appearances, including four goals and three assists over six games in Ramos' first year in charge.
