Ignacio Piatti Arrives, Joins Montreal Impact

Ignacio Piatti will be arriving in Montreal and joining his new team…and it’s about time! The club announced the midfielder, who will be the Impact’s second ever Designated Player, will be arriving Wednesday morning. He will meet the media at a press conference in the afternoon and is expected to make his debut soon.

Head coach Frank Klopas said in a press release earlier this week that he thinks Piatti will make his first MLS appearance on Saturday, when the Impact play the Chicago Fire at Stade Saputo.

"“We are excited to get his with the team and on the pitch. With the long flight, medical examination and everything that goes along with his arrival, we don’t want to push things, but he could definitely give us some minutes [on Saturday].” – Frank Klopas"

The 29-year-old Argentine was signed with the Montreal Impact on July 2nd, with a special little clause in his contract.

His club at the time, San Lorenzo in Argentina, were in the mist of the Copa Libertadores, their version of the CONCACAF Champions League.

At the start of the tournament, although San Lorenzo won the Argentine Primera Division, they were in a group with Botoafogo and Chilean league champions Union Espanola and not expected to get out of the group or do any damage in the knockout stage.

However, the club pulled off a miracle run and made it to the semi-finals. They wanted Piatti, one of their star players, to be with the club for the duration of the tournament. The two sides haggled a bit, and finally agreed to let Piatti stay until the first game of the finals, no later.

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Well, of course San Lorenzo made it to the finals and pleaded with FIFA to let Piatti stay for the second game, but were unable to convince them.

The Impact are hoping to get Piatti settled in the city and in to the lineup as soon as possible. He will probably take his first training session on Thursday and since he’s been playing on a consistant bases in Argentina, so he should be in fine physical form.

This clause in his contract isn’t the only thing that made this transfer a little more interesting than usual. Piatti’s arrival comes less than a week after he told a Buenos Aires radio station that Montreal was just a stopover for him.

He reportedly said that he wanted to leave an impression on the MLS while with the Impact and the hopefully sign on with a team in New York or Miami.

Comments like that, coming from a guy you just dropped big bucks on are obviously disappointing to hear.

At this point in the season though, there’s two very simple things Piatti can do to win back the trust of the fan base.

Score goals and win games.