Revs make Gustavo Bou 2nd designated player - will we see an avalanche of goals from the Argentine?

The Revolution made the worst-kept secret — well, when your secret is live-streaming the Rolling Stones concert at Gillette on Instagram, it’s hard to keep that under wraps, you know — official Wednesday afternoon, as the club has signed Argentine striker Gustavo Bou to a multi-year contract.

As per club policy, terms of the deal with Bou — pronounced Bow, like bow and arrow — were not announced, but there have been reports of a high transfer fee being agreed to: MLSSoccer.com's Ian Quillen reported a transfer fee of $5 million over the weekend. In Julian Cardillo’s ProSoccerUSA.com story from Tuesday, he noted that Mexican media has reported four years and $10 million in compensation, which would make Bou, a 120-goal scorer, the largest amount of investment the Revolution have put in for one player.

The Argentine will be added to the Revolution’s roster as a designated player upon receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate; in other words, don’t expect him to be available for selection when New England travels to DC United this Friday.

Bou comes to Foxborough from Xolos de Tijuana in Liga MX, where he has spent the last two seasons, including a loan spell with Argentina’s Racing Club. During his time in Mexico, Bou scored 20 goals in 49 appearances.

He had played with Racing Club before his transfer to Xolos, where he scored 45 goals in 100 appearances.

He started his career with River Plate, where he sporadically played over six years, with three separate loans to clubs in Argentina and Ecuador. He joined River Plate’s reserve side in 2004, then joined the first team four years later.



BSJ Analysis

If there’s one thing we can deduce from this early-window piece of business, it’s this: Bruce Arena ain’t playing checkers, kids. The way the Revolution did things in the past — lollygag, then sign any old player with a passable highlight reel — are done. And when Revs investor/operator Robert Kraft gets into the introductory photo -- something he never does -- you know this is serious.

Seriously, folks: 120 goals is no small thing, especially when you see the numbers that Taylor Twellman (101 goals) put up during his time with the Revolution. And yes, from what we saw Thursday, Bou can score. He’s good off the ball, and according to Ceasar Hernandez — the host of the Xolos Podcast, a San Diego-based show covering the Tijuana side, who appeared on Six States One Podcast this week — Bou needs freedom to move. And as we’ve heard Arena note, he doesn’t care to discuss formations, he trusts his players to move.

Hernandez noted that Bou is a stand-out player, and stand-outs don’t hang around Tijuana for too long. Well then…

As for style of play, Hernandez said that Bou will drift out to the wings and play as a No. 9, is a physical presence with a powerful shot, and he can battle for the ball. He’s a communicator, a leader, an “efficient” player, but not a brute force. I honestly cannot wait to really get a feel for what he can do.

Add in the fact he scored seven goals in his last six games with Xolos, he has to be itching to get back out there. Goal-scoring can lead to a massive confidence boost; look how scoring one goal lifted Juan Agudelo, and how it lifted Teal Bunbury. If Bou gets off on the right foot in Foxborough, there's no telling how many he can score in MLS.

For the amount of money the Revs are spending, this deal will be one of two things: a tremendous success, or a colossal failure. He’s either going to challenge Zlatan and Josef Martinez for the scoring title year after year, or he’s going to just be a waste of money. I happen to think that this will be rather a successful signing.

However, let’s get one thing clear: if he doesn’t take to MLS right away in the way Carles Gil did, my hope is that the Doom and Gloom Society don't consider him to be a waste. He’s going to be here a while, and it may take him some time to adjust to the players here.

And since Xolos plays on turf, there won’t be an issue with the plastic pasture on Route 1.

The question, of course, is this: who will Bou replace in the XI? Will he replace Bunbury, or does he replace Juan Fernando Caicedo, the other 29-year-old strikers in the team?

Let the Bou era begin.