ESPN Jen Chang Blog

With the MLS season due to start in less than a month, it's been pretty apparent for a while now that the next wave of big-name signings following the Beckham tidal wave is not likely to happen -- at least not until July.

Granted, the rumor mill out of Chicago suggests that the Fire are close to finalizing a deal with temperamental Mexican forward Cuauhtémoc Blanco for what is said to be a guaranteed deal in the $1.5 million to $2 million per year range. However, short of that it seems that most MLS teams haven't really been that keen to pursue a Designated Player slot target or have found potential acquisitions too pricey in their salary demands.

I have mixed feelings on the Blanco move -- while he does bring some much-needed flair and goal-scoring pizzazz to MLS -- he also brings a lot of baggage character-wise and often looks an old 34 on the field, having slowed down considerably despite retaining his impressive array of tricks. For that amount of money and the DP slot, Blanco's a fairly risky move simply since he's more likely to be a negative locker room influence more than anything else.

It's surprising that more teams aren't mimicking what D.C. United is doing: They switched gears and went for cheaper priced South American talent in the form of Brazilians Luciano Emilio and the soon-to-be-confirmed Fred (Helbert Frederico Carreiro da Silva) after they were apparently rebuffed in their bid to sway former Argentine international Martin Palermo from Boca.

We've already seen the impact that Emilio has made (three goals in his first two appearances for D.C. United in the CONCACAF Champions Cup) and Fred has the potential to make the same type of impact. He led Melbourne Victory to the Australian League championship last month, was named co-MVP and has reportedly signed for a bargain-basement $150,000 salary for 2007.

A-League aficionados will be disappointed to see Fred leave, he's a very creative player who can play in midfield or at forward and is slated to slot in on the right side for D.C. His acquisition gives United probably the most technically skilled and eye-pleasing attacking quartet in Christian Gomez, Jaime Moreno, Emilio and Fred and it's no coincidence that all are South American.

At the risk of oversimplifying things, you could argue that D.C. United's strategic vision consists of getting a bunch of blue-collar, hard working industrious American players (Josh Gros, Brian Carroll, Ben Olsen etc.) and surrounding them with a bunch of attacking flair players of South American origin. If D.C. United wins the championship this season (and they're my early choice for favorite), it's an approach that other MLS GMs might begin to mimic and frankly it's about time.

Other than being Brazilian, Emilio and Fred both share one thing in common -- both were highly dominant attacking players in low-tier leagues, leagues that MLS stands well above in the pecking order.

Given MLS' obvious inability to compete for the finest European or South American talent -- if you're a GM in MLS -- the first thing you should be doing right about now is scouring the various second and third tier leagues around the world and siphoning off that league's most talented player and the various expat Brazilians plying their trade around the world.

To that end, here's an example of players that MLS should be taking a hard look at:

1. Ismail Matar, Al-Wahda -- A 23-year-old midfielder who is by far the best player in the United Arab Emirates. In addition to his knack for scoring spectacular goals, Matar was named the best player at the 2003 World Youth Championships and current UAE coach Bruno Metsu has said that Matar has more than enough talent to excel in Europe.

2. Ledesma, Kaunas -- Only 24, the Brazilian Ledesma is the finest attacking player in the Lithuanian league and has great speed and skill. I doubt it would take a lot to convince him to trade in the frigid climate of the Baltic States for MLS.

3. Allan Delon, Brasiliense -- At 27, Delon (named after the French movie star) is the perfect type of Brazilian player for MLS. A domestic league player of some quality (he's a potent goal-scoring midfielder), Delon falls into that dreaded tweener category of being a domestic league standout who's not good enough for a national team call-up or good enough to attract attention from top European leagues. This being the case, he makes perfect sense for MLS since he's probably affordable and probably looking for a chance to make his name abroad.