Columbus Crew SC linked with Uruguayan striker Santiago Garcia

Several Columbus Crew SC fans believe that signing a striker to be Ola Kamara’s backup should be a priority to the club as it headed into the offseason and the Black & Gold might be just working on it. According to the Argentinean media, Crew SC submitted an offer to sign Uruguayan striker Santiago Garcia from Godoy Cruz.

Journalist Gabriel Ciccarelli tweeted that Columbus has made an offer of $2 million for 50 percent of Garcia’s rights, which are owned by Godoy Cruz. According to the report, two other local clubs, Vélez Sarsfield and Atlético Tucumán, are also interested in acquiring the services of the 27-year-old striker.

A Montevideo-native, Garcia spent most of his career at Uruguay’s Nacional, amassing 46 goals in 83 matches over two stints (2008-2011 and 2013-2014) with the club. He was the top scorer of the Uruguayan league in 2010/2011 with 23 goals, leading Nacional to the title.

Garcia had quick and unsuccessful tenures with Brazil’s Atlético Paranaense (2011) and Turkey’s Kasimpasa (2012) before arriving in Argentina, where he has been for the last four years, first playing for local giants River Plate, where he scored 13 goals in 35 matches between 2014 and 2015. He signed for Godoy Cruz in 2016 and has notched 20 goals over 46 matches for the club.

A hyped prospect in Uruguay in the past decade, he played nine matches for the country’s U-20 national team, scoring five goals, and also competed in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Nicknamed “Morro” (mountain, in Spanish), Garcia is a prototypical target forward that uses his physical strength inside the penalty box and is reasonably efficient in finishing. If signed, he would probably be an immediate backup for Kamara, even though his style is a little bit different from the Norwegian striker.

Update: The link appears to be a Día de los Santos Inocentes joke, so it doesn’t look like Columbus will be adding Garcia.