Inter Miami finalizing deal with former U.S. national team defender Ventura Alvarado
Ventura Alvarado, a Mexican-American center back who has played his whole pro career in Mexico, has been training with Inter Miami for a few weeks and is close to finalizing a contract with the club.
The Athletic first reported the news, and a league source confirmed that he could be signed by the end of the week.
Alvarado, 28, last played for Atletico San Luis. He is an Arizona native who has made 13 appearances for the U.S. national team, the last in 2015. He started his career as a teenager with America and went on to play for Santos Laguna and Necaxa.
Inter Miami coach Phil Neville, asked about Alvarado last week, said he was shaking off the rust but impressed the staff with his style of play.
“It was an opportunity we had that he could come in and train,” Neville said. “He’s had a lot of time off. He’s a long way behind everyone else, so it’s going to take another couple of weeks to truly evaluate him, but every single day he is getting fitter. He’s shown he’s an international player. He’s almost [Nico] Figal-like in the way he likes to play. We’re going to assess him another two weeks and see where that takes us. He’s impressed us with his attitude. He speaks good English, has good experience.”
Inter Miami ended a six-game losing skid with a 1-1 tie against the Philadelphia Union on Sunday night. Miami is 2-8-3 heading into another home game Saturday against CF Montreal.