REPORT Jorge Villafaña leaving Santos Laguna for MLS

According to a report by Sam Stejskal for MLSSoccer.com, Jorge Villafaña is re-joining the Portland Timbers on a three-and-a-half year deal. The left back had been with Liga MX club Santos Laguna since 2016. He made 18 league and Liguilla (playoff) appearances in Los Guerreros’ 2018 Clasura championship campaign.

Before officially moving to Portland, Jorge Villafana had to pass through MLS’ complicated allocation process.

The LA Galaxy hold the top spot in the allocation ranking order. The Timbers are 16th in the current ranking. They’d likely have to trade up with LA in order to acquire Villafaña. The sources said that whichever team secures his MLS rights will be responsible for paying his transfer fee. (MLSSoccer.com)

Portland recently traded left back Vytautas Andriuškevičius to D.C. United, making way for Villafaña’s return. The club’s official Twitter account hinted at the move, posting a picture of their former player’s number.

Villafaña has earned 19 caps with the United States Men’s National Team since making his debut in 2017. The 28-year-old will likely be one of the squad’s veterans during the next World Cup cycle. Despite his advanced age, relative to U.S. Soccer’s current youth-focused reclamation project, he’s appeared in five of the last six post-qualifying friendlies.