SportsSoccerWhitecaps

Vancouver Whitecaps offloading one of their most expensive players

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Sep 13 2023, 7:16 pm
Vancouver Whitecaps offloading one of their most expensive players
Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports

It appears Sergio Cordova’s time with the Vancouver Whitecaps has already come to an end.

The 26-year-old Venezuelan striker, who the Whitecaps acquired from German Bundesliga side FC Augsburg in February, is reportedly being transferred to Turkish club Alanyaspor.

The deal was first reported by Argentinian soccer journalist César Luis Merlo and has since been confirmed by Tom Bogert in The Athletic. Merlo reports that Cordova is heading to Turkey to undergo medical exams and will sign a contract that lasts until June 2027.

It’s a permanent transfer according to The Athletic, meaning that Cordova’s departure opens up a designated player spot for Vancouver. Cordova was one of three designated players on the Whitecaps, along with Ryan Gauld and Andrés Cubas.

To say Cordova’s time in Vancouver was disappointing would be an understatement. Despite being the Whitecaps’ second highest-paid player, he scored just two goals during the MLS regular season. Those numbers are well back of the nine goals Cordova scored in 33 MLS appearances (27 starts) in 2022 when he was on loan with Real Salt Lake.

Injuries didn’t help, but Cordova never came close to supplanting Brian White as the Whitecaps’ top striker. Cordova appeared in 19 MLS matches this season, but started in just nine of them.

Gauld and White currently have a share of the team lead with 10 goals each.

The transfer comes with the Whitecaps in the midst of a hyper-competitive playoff race. Vancouver is currently sixth in the West, but are just three points behind Seattle for second in the conference.

The Whitecaps have been road warriors of late, winning in Portland and Chicago before drawing against New York City FC on September 2. They’ll have to keep it up away from home for the foreseeable future, with matches in Toronto (September 16), Houston (September 20), Salt Lake City (September 23), and Colorado (September 27) before finally returning to BC Place against DC United on September 30.

ADVERTISEMENT