Portland Timbers land Chilean forward Alexander Aravena, David da Costa returns to training

At Portland Timbers media day last week, general manager Ned Grabavoy told reporters that the club were in the final stages of acquiring another attacking player. On Wednesday, the club officially announced the signing of Chilean Winger Alexander Aravena on loan from Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense through the 2026 season, with an option to purchase his rights at the end of the loan.

Aravena, 23, joins the Timbers with bags of domestic and international experience under his belt. At Grêmio, he tallied seven goals and three assists in ~2,300 minutes after coming through the ranks at Club Deportivo Universidad Católica and Club Deportivo Ñublense, where he registered 29 goals and 11 assists en-route to back-to-back Chilean league titles and one Chilean Super Cup victory. He is also a full-fledged Chilean international, having earned 16 caps with the national team – 12 of which coming in World Cup Qualifiers.

Long story short: Aravena is young, a proven winner, and has big game experience. To acquire him on loan with a pre-determined purchase option is another feather in the cap of Grabavoy, who is slowly but surely putting together another strong transfer window for the Timbers (Cole Bassett, Alex Bonetig, Brandon Bye).

Per Timbers radio broadcaster Adam Susman, Aravena's availability for selection is still pending on his visa status being resolved, so him making the trip with the Timbers for their week 2 match in Colorado might be a week too soon to see his debut.

Aravena arrived in Portland this week, and is already participating with his new teammates on the training pitch in Beaverton. "As soon as I knew there was interest from Portland I made the choice to come. This is a good, competitive league," said Aravena. "I actually spoke to [Pipe Mora] before coming [to Portland], he said that the city is beautiful and that the team is great ... that was enough to convince me."

Phil Neville told reporters at training on Thursday morning that Aravena is the type of forward the Timbers lost when they sold Santi Moreno to Fluminense last summer. "Alexander likes to play in the spaces between the lines," said Neville. Where Antony, Ariel Lassiter, and Kristoffer Velde like to play in the wide areas, Aravena figures to drift inside the pitch like Moreno did to link up with the likes of Pipe Mora, Kevin Kelsy, David da Costa, and Cole Bassett.

His versatility in playing across the frontline is valuable as well, but when Da Costa returns to full fitness, I'd expect Aravena to battle Antony (who made a strong case for himself by scoring a goal in the Timbers 3-2 victory against the Columbus Crew on opening day) for a starting spot on the right wing opposite of Velde.

Speaking of David da Costa, he officially took part in his first training session today as he ramps back up to fitness following an off-season surgery on a shoulder that plagued him for the second half of the 2025 MLS season. Cascadia FC's Jeremy Peterman was quick to note that the session wasn't full-contact, and Neville doesn't expect him to be involved in the first "three to four" matches of the season. But one of Portland's two designated players getting closer and closer to a return to the pitch is exciting nonetheless.

Adding both Da Costa and Aravena to an attack that just scored three opening day goals against a playoff team raises the ceiling of Portland's prospects, both in MLS and Leagues Cup. With a tough pre-World Cup break schedule, Neville and the Timbers will hope that both hit the ground running when they become available for selection, but you can't help getting excited about a potential offensive turnaround following a poor end to last season.

There's still a glaring need for a defensive midfielder, and probably another centerback with Zac McGraw months away from a return from injury, but with exactly one month remaining in the winter transfer window the Timbers' roster looks a lot more competitive than it did a few weeks ago. And what's great about it is that there's real competition for places and positional flexibility.

James Pantemis, Jimer Fory, Finn Surman, Cole Bassett, Kristoffer Velde, and David da Costa are all (when healthy) locks to start in my opinion. But you feel good about the following competitions across the roster: Aravena/Antony, Kamal Miller/Alex Bonetig, Juan Mosquera/Brandon Bye, Diego Chara/Joao Ortiz/Incoming defensive midfielder, Kevin Kelsy/Gage Guerra/Pipe Mora. That's without even mentioning solid squad players such as Ian Smith and Ariel Lassiter, the injured Omir Fernandez, and youngsters like Sawyer Jura, Eric Izoita, and Noah Santos.

I'm not all-of-a-sudden saying that the Timbers are MLS Cup bound or primed to make a deep run in Leagues Cup, but a good start to the season and exciting young talent coming through the door are enough to buoy expectations and put the sour taste of the last few seasons out of my mouth for the time being.

What say you, Rose City? Do you like the signing of Aravena? Are you excited about David da Costa returning to training? Are you more optimistic about the Timbers' squad and where they can go in 2026? Sound off in the comments below!