TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Report
Needing to meet MLS roster compliance guidelines by April 16 and carrying one too many Designated Players, Inter Miami CF are looking to trade Argentine winger Matias Pellegrini, according to a report from Jeff Rueter and Sam Stejskal in The Athletic.
Pellegrini, 21, appears to be the outlier amid Inter Miami’s DP conundrum. They also have French World Cup-winning midfielder Blaise Matuidi, Mexico national team midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro and Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain with that roster designation – one more than the league’s limit of three.
Sporting director and chief soccer officer Chris Henderson addressed their quandary earlier this week, and managing owner Jorge Mas did so as well during a Friday press conference at their recently-named DRV PNK Stadium.
As previously reported by MLSsoccer.com’s Tom Bogert, Pellegrini’s salary makes him ineligible for the league’s to-be-announced Under-22 initiative that’d encourage investment in young talent. From there, it appears Inter Miami are searching for alternative roster solutions that could result in Pellegrini landing at another MLS club via a trade, unable to make the salary juggling act work.
All the while, Inter Miami are facing an investigation from MLS around last summer’s acquisition of Matuidi to a non-DP deal. The 34-year-old arrived from Serie A giants Juventus, as did Higuain.
Whatever awaits Pellegrini, he’s looking to build off a 2020 season in which he notched one goal and two assists in 19 games (12 starts). He joined in 2019 from Argentine side Estudiantes as a Young Designated Player, signing ahead of their expansion campaign.
