Saputo’s cryptic tweets tantalize Montreal soccer fans

Joey Saputo. PHOTO: HEATHER ENGEL

Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo is using Twitter to tease his club’s fans about a new, ahem, impact player that could come into the fold.

Saputo was clearly having some fun on social media Monday, telling his followers about his European travels and his quest to find his club some veteran help.

“Nice to be back, good trip, found another piece that could help, will join the team in L.A.,” tweeted Saputo. “Played for national team and high level in Europe.”

And then, later, “Just to clarify that the player headed to L.A. is not the DP we met with. Just an added surprise.”

So, in fact, Saputo hinted that he has found a player who will go to L.A. to join the team, and has had talks with another player, who is a potential DP.

Saputo did such a great job engaging his fans, you’d think that he sold stuff for a living or something. MLS needs a lot more of this unabashed hucksterism in its ranks. Makes following the teams more fun. In a league where contracts are centrally controlled and a lot of rivalries are softened by the single-entity stance of the league, the potential for Saputo to transform himself into the MLS version of Mark Cuban is an exciting prospect indeed.

Saputo’s Tweeting turned the news that striker Brian Ching, the Impact’s first pick in the expansion draft, has gone home to deal with some personal issues. At least that’s the party line. Media speculation is that a deal is imminent to send Ching back to the Houston Dynamo, so the MLS vet can be part of the opening of the team’s new stadium.

But, truly, the Ching news is just a brief after the owner of the club tantalizes the fans with Tweets about a DP and another veteran player from Europe.

The only thing that would have been better would have been to find that the Impact had found a player by scouring Canada. If there is any downside, the fact that the Impact will likely add more European-based talent makes it look more and more likely that the team will begin the season March 10 with the bare minimum of three Canadian players on its roster.

Still, thanks to Saputo for remembering that fun is supposed to be part of pro sports. It’s something that gets lost far too often nowadays.