SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes completed their long-awaited signing of striker Andres Rios. The 29-year-old Argentine agreed to a TAM deal for an undisclosed length and will occupy an international slot on the Quakes roster, the club announced Tuesday.
“He is a great person, a great professional and someone who is extremely excited to join the group,” Earthquakes coach Matias Almeyda said in a statement.
Rios joins the Quakes from Racing Club in the Argentine Primera Division, where he made two appearance since January 2019 as the team won the league championship with a 17-2-6 record. Prior to Racing Club, he made 45 league and 12 tournament appearances with Brazil’s Vasco De Gama, tallying 10 goals and two assists in a year-and-a-half stint.
Rios is well traveled in his 12-year career and has spent time with other clubs in Central and South America, starting with his professional debut at River Plate in his native Argentina in 2007. In signing with the Earthquakes. Rios is now reunited with Almeyda, his coach at River Plate back in 2011-12. The Quakes hope the 29-year-old can capture some of the form that made him a reported $4.1 million transfer to Mexico’s Club America in January 2014 .
“Our main goal was to continue to reinforce the team’s growth in the short and long term,” Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli said in a statement. “Andres is a versatile striker with distinct attacking qualities that we were looking for. It also helps that Andres is a player that our coaching staff is very familiar with, both to successfully integrate him into the team midseason, as well as to help him gain a full understanding of how we play. He has played in many competitive leagues and will be an important addition for us as we look to finish the season strong and grow the squad competitively beyond 2019.”
The Earthquakes were able to complete the signing of Rios only after opening an international slot on their roster, which they accomplished Monday when Guram Kashia completed his acquisition of a U.S. Green Card. Fioranelli has been very aggressive in moving international players to domestic status via this mechanism. MLS teams are allowed to have up to eight international players at a time on their roster.
A final move is still required by the Quakes before Rios will be eligible to play. San Jose currently has all 30 of its roster spots accounted for, so someone will need to be taken off that list. Fioranelli can accomplish this via the trade or transfer of a current player, waiving a player, or sending out a player on a season-long loan to another club. Currently, defender Jimmy Ockford is on a short term loan with Nashville SC of the USL Championship, so if his loan were extended through the send of the MLS campaign, the Quakes would open up a roster spot for Rios.
With Rios and Carlos Fierro, who was signed last month, brought into the fold, the Earthquakes moves in the summer transfer window are complete. Almeyda has the team in fourth place in the West and playing with momentum only Supporters’ Shield leaders LAFC can match. Rios and Fierro just might be the offensive reinforcements the coach needs to keep the Quakes heading in the right direction.