With the first overall selection in the MLS SuperDraft the Vancouver Whitecaps have selected US U-20 budding star Omar Salgado.
The former member of Mexico's National Youth Development program recently decided to heed the call of his homeland and decided to join the USMNT U20 Player Pool. His decision made him immediately expendable to his club Chivas de Guadalajara, who are notorious for only fielding players who are of Mexican decent and able to play for the National Squad.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Salgado had a trial with the Whitecaps in the middle of last season, but when the club tried to sign him to their USSF D2 roster, they hit a snag in his paperwork that dealt with his age and transferring between 3 nations in one season (or something along those lines). He almost immediately went and continued training with the Portland Timbers.
Due to the same restrictions with regards to Salgado's age, it is likely that the young striker will be loaned out to an American club until his 18th birthday, when he is finally eligible to play in Canada.
The signing of Salgado is a clear indicator that the Whitecaps brain trust is sticking to their game plan of developing young talent for resale to European Clubs. He joins a club that already has several highly rated prospects waiting in the wings with Ethan Gage (Canadain U-20 Player of the Year 2010), Bryce Alderson (Canadain U-17 Player of the Year 2010), Russell Teibert (2009 U-17 Canadian Player of the Year), and Cody Arnoux (Everton Youth, and Wake Forrest University), all on the clubs books for the West Coast club.