Minnesota United added three new players to its roster last month, with head coach Eric Ramsay saying on Tuesday that there is potential for more players to join the team.

On Friday, a target emerged.

The Loons are in “advanced talks” to sign 25-year-old Argentine attacking midfielder Joaquin Pereyra from Atletico Tucuman, a source confirmed to the Pioneer Press on Friday. South American reporter Cesar Luis Merlo said details of the proposed deal should be finalized during the 2027 MLS season.

“We wanted to be very active in this window – we’ve had a good start with the three we’ve seen so far,” Ramsay said. “Hopefully we can build on that, but it’s not always as simple as it seems.”

Pereyra plays primarily as a left-sided midfielder and is known more for his creative playmaking than his goalscoring. He also looks to be a willing defender who could help MNUFC press their opponents higher up the pitch.

According to fbref.com, Pereyra had four assists and no goals in 742 minutes for Tucuman in 2024. In his fourth season with Tucuman in the Argentine Primera Division, he had four goal contributions in 2,224 minutes in 2023 and three goal contributions in 2,267 minutes in 2022.

Pareyra began his professional career at age 17 with Rosario Central in Argentina, playing sporadically over five seasons. In 2020-21, he played for Famalicao in Portugal.

The summer transfer window ends on Wednesday and burning questions remain for Chief Football Officer Khaled Al-Ahmad. What is his plan to develop the defensive midfield? And how does he plan to improve the squad in MLS?

Al-Ahmad has added a centre forward, a full-back, a centre-back and a winger to his squad (excluding Pareyra), but MNUFC has yet to address the number 6 role.

The Loons added Carlos Harvey and Alejandro Bran to the roster before the season, but their primary starters (when healthy and eligible) remain Wil Trapp and Hassani Dotson. Both Trapp, 31, and Dotson, 27, are in the final years of their contracts. The club holds options for both players through 2025.

If Pareyra’s transfer is completed, it would be another player who would elevate the first team and show how busy Al-Ahmad has been this summer. While he is not expected to overhaul the entire squad in 2024, a plan for a defensive midfielder is increasingly among the club’s biggest unknowns.

This week, Al-Ahmad traded Wayzata native Caden Clark to CF Montreal but has yet to acquire a player from the league. There is talent, potential, affordability and know-how in MLS, and Al-Ahmad needs to show where he sees value.

MNUFC and its three new players (forward Kelvin Yeboah, center back Jefferson Diaz and right back Matus Kmet) are working to obtain work visas with their home countries.

“I know these things can take a lot of unexpected circumstances, but I think if things continue like this, hopefully Jefferson, Kelvin and Matus will be ready to go (in practice) on Monday,” Ramsay said. “And we’ll give them two clean weeks to get ready for Seattle and do what we can on top of that. That would definitely be a good position to be in.”

The Loons plan to play a to-be-determined friendly on Aug. 16 or 17, followed by a full week of friendly matches leading up to the resumption of MLS play against the Seattle Sounders at Allianz Field on Aug. 24.

Sang Bin Jeong has been away from the club since July 23 for a personal reason but is expected to return early next week, Ramsay said. … The Loons started eight first-team players in Thursday’s MNUFC2 match against The Town: Trapp, Dotson, DJ Taylor, Zarek Valentin, Hugo Bacharach, Samuel Shashoua, Jordan Adebayo-Smith and Clint Irwin. MNUFC2 winger Loic Mesanvi scored from long range in the 1-1 draw. The Loons earned another point on penalties. … MNUFC has loaned forward Patrick Weah and midfielder Molik Jesse Khan to HB Koge in Denmark for the remainder of the 2024 season. Weah, a local signing in 2021, has failed to establish himself consistently with the Loons’ first team. The Minneapolis native is out of contract at the end of the year. … The Loons also loaned rookie defender Morris Duggan to USL Championship side Rhode Island FC for the remainder of 2024, a move that will open up the German’s spot on the international roster to another foreign player.