Union add goalie Matt Jones
The Union added goalkeeping depth Tuesday by acquiring English-born keeper Matt Jones on loan from Belenenses of Portugal's Primeira Liga, the top division.
The Union added goalkeeping depth Tuesday by acquiring English-born keeper Matt Jones on loan from Belenenses of Portugal's Primeira Liga, the top division.
He will be on loan for the 2016 Major League Soccer season.
Jones holds a U.S. permanent resident card and will not occupy an international spot. That is crucial because the Union do not have one available.
MLS rules allow teams eight international slots, but the slots are allowed to be traded. The Union have seven after trading one international slot last year in the Sheanon Williams deal with Houston. The Union have seven international players on the roster.
Andre Blake, entering his third season, has been penciled in as the Union's starting keeper. But Blake has had injury problems his first two years, and he has missed time while competing for the Jamaican national team.
Jones has been with Belenenses since 2012. Last season, Belenenses loaned him to another first division team in Portugal, C.D. Tondela, where he appeared in 11 games.
The Union said the 29-year-old Jones, who attended college at Sacred Heart University (Conn.), can serve a variety of purposes.
"We will count on him to become an immediate contributor, both in terms of his mentoring ability for our younger keepers but also for his pure shot-stopping abilities," Union sporting director Earnie Stewart said in a statement.
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