Inter Miami sign forward Facundo Farías from CA Colon: Sources

Inter Miami has signed Argentina youth international attacker Facundo Farías from CA Colon, sources involved in the deal tell The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know: 

Farías will join via the U-22 initiative. The fee will be around $5.5 million, per sources.

He is likely to play on the left wing, opposite Lionel Messi on the right. He can also play as a No. 10.

The 20-year-old broke through Colon’s youth academy into the first team in 2019, making 95 appearances thus far. He has 16 goals and nine assists in just under 6,000 first team minutes.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Why the U-22 initiative is so valuable

In the world of MLS roster rules, all clubs are permitted to have at least one U-22 initiative signing and up to three, pending other roster designations. Miami is able to add three U-22 initiative players because one of their designated players — Leo Campana — is a young DP. 

The U-22 initiative is so valuable because transfer fees aren’t calculated into the budget charge and the players hit the salary cap at a fixed, low cost. Farías will hit the salary cap at $200,000, no matter what his contract is. Miami has already used one other U-22 initiative slot in the deal to sign Paraguay midfielder Diego Gomez from Libertad.

The club remains in discussions with Racing Club to sign center back Tomás Avilés (19), which would be the third U-22 slot.

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Backstory

Farías was a target for both Boca Juniors and River Plate, but a knee injury in 2022 sidelined the young attacker and cooled interest from Argentina’s big clubs.