Kerwin Vargas finally joined his Charlotte FC teammates in training this week following his move from Portuguese side CD Feirense.
The Colombian youngster – CLTFC’s second U-22 Initiative signing – arrives in North Carolina with high hopes for his development after scoring eight goals in 31 appearances for Feirense, who play in the Portuguese second tier.
While he’ll need to be afforded patience as he adjusts to Major League Soccer, Vargas will add another boost to a gradually improving Charlotte attack. Head coach Miguel Angel Ramirez has revealed just how and why that’s the case.
“I just came from a meeting with him. Before going deep into the game model, just to know each other. For me to know, for him to know. Where we come from, our pathway, our history. Also, for him to know some important things for me in the daily activity,” Ramirez said of Vargas at a press conference earlier this week.
On the 20-year-old’s qualities, Ramirez added: “First, he can play in different positions, both wings and center forward, that’s really important for us. Second, he is very aggressive attacking the spaces, that is something we are missing in the squad. Having this aggressiveness to attack space inside or outside.
“And then he has this South American spirit in the 1v1, to go brave and beat you. He’s very encouraged to go and beat the fullback with his determination. He’s super happy, it was a long way to get here, and also we are happy to have him.”
Ker-chow ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/iFEHQzW5YW
— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) May 20, 2022
Charlotte host the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday looking to recover from a 2-0 defeat at home to CF Montreal last time out.
The Whitecaps are enjoying a three-game unbeaten run as they head to Bank of America Stadium and Ramirez has revealed the lengths he’s been going to in order to have Charlotte ready to win as many games as possible.
“I come here every day at seven in the morning, must win,” he said. “I work always to prepare the game for my players to win. Always seeing how I can help my players to win this game.
“This is always my mentality. I always face every single game, I don’t care who’s in front… how can I do, how can I train, how can we play to win this game?”
