Bernardello and Lopez Rodriguez meet the media in Montreal

The Montreal Impact let it be known some time ago that, while it was pleased with the personnel presently under contract, the team would not be averse to adding a couple players. Today the two most recent additions to the team were introduced — Hernan Bernardello, the Impact’s second Designated Player, and Adrian Lopez Rodriguez.

Bernardello’s signing had been announced earlier in the week and the presser scheduled to introduce him to local media was put off due to his hospitalization for dehydration and flu-like symptoms, while the addition of Lopez Rodriguez was announced just this morning.

Bernardello, who turns 27 on August 3, is an Argentine-born midfielder who has three seasons with Newell’s Old Boys under his belt as well as over 100 matches in Spanish first and second division play.

Lopez Rodriguez, also 26, is a Spanish central defender who made his pro debut with Deportivo La Coruna in his native land and spent the past two seasons with Wigan, FA Cup winners for the 2012-13 campaign.

“We’ve had a very positive first half to the season and sometimes it is difficult to think about making changes or adding players,” declared Impact technical director, Nick De Santis, who also gave credit to Daniel Pozzi, Adam Braz and Matt Jordan for doing much of the heavy lifting and detail work involved in acquiring the pair of newcomers. “

We looked closely at their personalities, attitude, professionalism and, I can assure you, as I did the players and coaching staff that both will I can guarantee that, personality-wise, both these players will integrate well into the team,” he continued. “For us to have 26-year-olds in very key, important positions, because when you think of a team you think of the spine of the team. You look at a central defender and a central midfielder at 26; that could be the future of this team. We’re extremely proud and happy and excited. I know they’re excited to start as well.”

Speaking through an interpreter, Bernardello, who had other offers from teams in Argentina and Mexico, thanked De Santis and the club for having confidence in him and said that he was looking forward to his time in Montreal and also to learning both French and English during his stay. He also mentioned that De Santis’s direct approach and transparency in discussions weighed heavily in his decision to join the Impact.

“I was very happy to sign for Montreal. When I got the news I was very pleased because Montreal is an amazing club,” said Lopez Rodriguez. “I believe that the project they are working on is a very good project. There is a lot of enthusiasm and they are doing so well in MLS. I know that French is spoken in this city so I will try to speak French as much as possible.”

Asked if they considered signing with Montreal as a step towards the possibility of returning to Europe at some point in the future, Bernardello, still communicating through an interpreter, may not have understood the thrust of the question, saying that he was happy to be playing in MLS and that the league is both attracting and developing better players with every passing year.

Lopez Rodriguez was more emphatic in his declaration. “I come to MLS to stay in MLS, not to go back to Europe, because I think MLS is going to be amazing and in a few years it will be a top league,” he said. “I’m looking forward to staying here and to belong to that period to become one of the best leagues in the world.”

Asked what each of the new men brought to the table, skill-wise, De Santis listed the attributes he felt would serve both the individuals being discussed and the team as a whole: “With Hernan, I think, when you look at the type of midfielder we want, he fits in. He’s a player who puts a lot of passion and emotion in every game, covers a lot of ground and is very hungry in the recovery of the balls. He makes himself available to everyone. He’s a link between the defence and the offence. I’ve seen the level in Argentina and it’s very physical. It’s players that fight for their lives and you can tell. Players of that kind, on any team, are very important. It’s a very crucial position. I think he’s very efficient in what he does. He’s a simple player but his decision-making on the field is very good too.

“With Adrian, when you think of centre backs you think of big, strong guys who are strong in the air but when you look at our team and the profile we look for, we want intelligent players that anticipate the play very well and have good feet and are able to start the attack from the back and he has all those qualities.”

The addition of two foreign players rather than one was facilitated by placing Nelson Rivas, held out of action for the past nine months, on the long-term injury list. Neither of the new signings is expected to be in uniform for tomorrow’s match against Sporting Kansas City.