D.C. United has agreed to a loan for Luciano Acosta, a 21-year old attacking midfielder from Argentina's famed Boca Juniors, according to journalist Lucho Torres Toranzo. The loan would be for one year with an option to buy, and Boca's manager has apparently told Toranzo that "Luciano Acosta will be a D.C. United player." United has declined to comment on this information. (UPDATE: We've learned from a source that a deal is being worked on and appears likely.)
Acosta has been in the Boca pipeline since the age of 13 and played 25 games with Boca's first team in 2014 before going out on loan to Estudiantes de la Plata in 2015 (oddly enough, home of recent D.C. United loan target Leonardo Gil). Described by Toranzo as a "typical number 10 born in Argentina" who spent time under the apprenticeship of Juan Roman Riquelme, Acosta was on the field when Riquelme scored his last goal against rival River Plate. Acosta had originally planned to go to Coritiba in Brazil's Serie A, but talk of him receiving an MLS offer earlier in the week resulted in the change. If the move is true, 'La Joya' can spend some time around another Boca Junior in the DC room, in Designated Player Fabian Espindola.
Listed at 5 foot 3, Acosta's size may be a problem in MLS, but he has speed to burn, if these sizzle reels (one of his time in Boca in 2014, and his one from EDLP is below that) are any indication.