Union finally gets its man
It took some serious bargaining, schmoozing and few cups of Colombian coffee, but the Union has finally landed its man.
It took some serious bargaining, schmoozing and few cups of Colombian coffee, but the Union has finally landed its man.
The Daily News first reported on Jan. 23 that the Union hoped to land forward Lionard Pajoy from Colombian first division club Itagui Diataires. But a lengthy visa situation along with what Union chief scout Diego Gutierrez described as "having to corral a player in demand," made today's announcement a bit longer in coming than anticipated.
"He's a player in demand, he's a guy that scored a ton of goals in the Colombian league," said Gutierrez, from the Union's preseason camp in Deltona, Fla. "He stands out from the smaller, quicker [Colombian] forwards. This is a physical player that can play with his back to the goal, and that made him a commodity. He had a lot of offers, we actually went to Colombia, and had a few cups of coffee and had negotiations again with both him and with his club, convincing him that this would be the best fit for him."
Pajoy, 30, scored 13 goals in 32 matches for Itagui. He will join an attack contingent that features Danny Mwanga, Josue Martinez, Jack McInerney and rookie Chandler Hoffman.
"It's an acquisition we are very excited about," continued Gutierrez. "I think with these guys we have versatility and flexibility to move around the lineup based on our opponent. It doesn't make us one dimensional."
In 2007, Pajoy served a suspension after he tested positive for a substance that was banned not by the Colombian League, but by officials within CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American soccer.
It's been reported that the substance contained trace amounts of cocaine. But Gutierrez isn't pleased with what he feels are "uninformed outlets" that have put emphasis on the illicit drug aspect.
"It's character defamation plain and simple," said Gutierrez. "You have people who read something, don't gather any of their own facts, speak to anyone regarding the situation and put something out there to have people look at a player in a negative way even before he touches a ball with the team. How that's allowed to happen is beyond me but that's the world we live in, I suppose.
"This was an over-the-counter topical drug administered by his training staff (Gutierrez likened it to applying Ben-Gay) that was banned by [CONMEBOL]. He had to serve a suspension, he went through the right channels, in our eyes it's a non-issue."
The one thing Gutierrez wanted to stress is that supporters should not view Pajoy as a replacement for Sebastien Le Toux. Instead, view it as a major upgrade to what was the norm.
"Sebastien Le Toux scored what? Eleven goals last season? You don't think Pajoy, Martinez, Mac and Mwanga, all that talent can't score 11 or more goals this season? Again, we are stressing a team concept here and I feel we have in Pajoy a player like Carlos Ruiz. A player with a nose for the goal but will be a good addition to our team. It took a while, but we are glad to have him join our family."