The Houston Dynamo made a pair of signings on the final day of the summer MLS transfer window with Honduran midfielder Jose Escalante and Costa Rican defender Keyner Brown each joining the club on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.
Escalante, 21, comes from the Dynamo USL affiliate the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros where he primarily played as a winger where he was able to score 3 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances. While there is some depth in front of him, with Giles Barnes and Leonel Miranda no longer with the club, Escalante could see some time behind Boniek Garcia, Andrew Wenger, and new acquisition Colombian Yair Arboleda.
Keyner Brown was more difficult to sign according to the Houston Chronicle. Brown had previously worked out for the Dynamo on trial earlier last month, but the club did not acquire the rights to sign him until the team traded Giles Barnes to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Brown is an athletic center back which is a position the Dynamo are thin on at the moment due to injuries to Spanish defenders Raul Rodriguez and Agus which has pushed Jalil Anibaba to partner alongside David Horst. At 24 years old, he has upside and youth alongside some experience playing with Costa Rican club Herediano.
These moves, along with the Arboleda signing, provide the Dynamo with youth - something many fans have wanted to see given our current position in the standings. All players are on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season which allows the team to evaluate the players without taking on too much risk while the players acclimate themselves to top tier soccer in the US.
How interim coach Wade Barrett incorporates our youth movement remains to be seen. For him this is very much an audition for next year so he may elect for experience over youth. The team had previously called up RGVFC and Dynamo homegrown product Christian Lucatero this past weekend, but Barrett didn't play him. However, if the Dynamo front office want more youth in the lineups looking ahead to next year, how Barrett plays ball with them is equally important.
What do you think of these signings? Did the Dynamo make a big enough splash to win fans over or are these youth loan-to-buy signings the way to go?