The Vancouver Whitecaps are in need of some firepower, and on Monday they got themselves a tank.
Lucas Cavallini, the Canadian forward who earned the nickname "El Tanque" during his time playing in Mexico and South America, officially joined the club Monday after several weeks of reports linking him to the club. With an actual tank parked outside BC Place donning Cavallini's No. 9, the Whitecaps proudly introduced their latest signing to the Vancouver media ahead of what could be a dramatic offseason overhaul.
The Whitecaps finished dead last in the MLS Western Conference in points and goals scored last season, so acquiring a proven scorer like Cavallini is the first step in an expected extensive rebuild prior to the team's season opener at the end of February.
"It was an easy decision, coming back home," Cavallini told reporters Monday. "You've seen what I'm capable of doing and [I'm] willing to take those abilities to transmit that to the Whitecaps."
MORE: Toronto FC re-signs captain Michael Bradley
Toronto-born Cavallini joins Vancouver after scoring 30 goals in 81 games with Puebla of the Mexican league. He has also tallied 11 times in 17 appearances for Canada's national team, including a last-minute strike against the United States in a 2-0 victory in October.
Cavallini's profile among Canadian soccer fans is growing thanks to his prowess in front of the net and his tireless work ethic, but Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster said the player's passport was not Vancouver's biggest concern when signing the soon-to-be 27-year-old attacker.
"He's not here because he's Canadian," Schuster said of Cavallini. "Of course that is something we really like, to bring back Canadian guys here, but he's here because he meets the profile."
BOOM.
— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) December 16, 2019
Welcome to The Village, Lucas 🌊 #ElTanque pic.twitter.com/ZxJNVFRbkN
Being a domestic player helps, especially within the byzantine MLS roster regulations, and Cavallini now joins several teammates from the national team in B.C. Tosaint Ricketts, Russell Teibert, Derek Cornelius and Maxime Crepeau are among the Whitecaps players who have also represented Canada alongside Cavallini, and they helped convince him to head back to his homeland for the first time in his professional career.
"Yeah, with those guys obviously we have a good relationship," Cavallini said. "We've been with the national team for quite a while now and obviously they wanted me to come more than ever. They told me really good things about the club and we have a good core of players here [with] a lot of quality, so yeah, I was happy that they convinced me to come to the club."
MORE: Canada not done after historic win over USMNT: 'It's only one step'
Of course, national pride will only go so far in convincing a player in his prime to leave a good quality league in Mexico. To that end, the Whitecaps paid what they call a club-record transfer fee for Cavallini, reported last week by ESPN to be $6 million, while making the striker one of three designated players on the team's roster.
"It's more than eight digits," Schuster said of the transaction, believed to include the fee paid to Puebla plus Cavallini's salary over the life of the four-year contract. "Never ever in history did the club spend so much money [on a single player], but he is worth it, and we're looking forward now to find the other players that fit our budget and that can help us to be a better team next season."