MIAMI, July 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Former England football star David Beckham’s
MLS expansion club, Inter Miami, announced its first two player signings on
Friday, 19-year-old Argentine players Matias Pellegrini and Julian Carranza.
Pellegrini, a left wing, was dubbed “El Primero” in a tweet welcoming him
to the club while forward Carranza will join him on the attack when the team
takes the field next year.
Inter Miami will keep Pellegrini with Superliga Argentina side Estudiantes
de La Plata through January 2020 until he joins the US squad on a transfer.
Carranza will remain on loan at Banfield until January 2020 before he
joins Inter Miami on a transfer.
“It’s important for us that we found young, exciting attacking players
that are on the upside of their career and have the potential to be really
good players in this league,” Inter Miami sporting director Paul McDonough
said.
“We will continue to build and add quality players that are the right fit
for our club. We started with youth, but we know it’s also important to have
veteran players who come from both overseas and within the league to balance
out the roster over time.”
Pellegrini debuted for the La Plata side last year and has scored three
goals in 15 matches. He made two Copa Libertadores appearances and has played
on Argentina’s under-20 and under-17 national squads.
Carranza, who moved to Buenos Aires at 13 to join Banfield’s academy, is
in his second season with 10 goals in 30 matches.
“Both Julian and Matias showed us they really wanted to take the next step
of their career with Inter Miami,” McDonough said.
“We liked that Pellegrini can play inside and out wide, has very good
aerobic capacity and can cover a lot of ground, while Julian is a very
grounded player with an impressive work rate. He’s the player that strives to
score goals and is very good in the box.”
Beckham, 44, is Inter Miami’s president. He retired in 2013 after a 20-
year career, but part of the MLS contract he signed in 2007 to play for the
Los Angeles Galaxy included the chance to buy a future MLS expansion club at
a discount.
Beckham utilized his option in 2014 to purchase an MLS club for $25
million and planned it for Miami but struggled to find a suitable stadium
site and it was not until January 2018 that MLS approved the team for
Beckham, its colors, name and logo being revealed last September.