Report: Boca Juniors right back Leonardo Jara moving to D.C. United

Reports from Fox Sports Argentina’s Marcelo Benedetto and the Washington Post’s Steven Goff both say that Leonardo Jara, a 27-year-old right back from Boca Juniors, will be going to D.C. United. We can independently confirm United’s pursuit of Jara, who started his career with Estudiantes de la Plata before moving to Boca in 2016. Goff’s report says the deal would be a one-year loan with purchase option, and that plans have Jara arriving for a physical in the next couple of days. At Estudiantes, Jara played next to fellow countrymen and possible future teammates Luciano Acosta and Lucas Rodriguez, the latter a playerDave Kasper and Ben Olsen noticed as they were scouting Acosta.

A veteran of more than 200 appearances with EDLP and Boca in the Argentine top flight, Jara appeared in 22 regular season Primera matches (starting 20) in 2017-18, before appearing in 4 in the latter half of 2018. Jara did start in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores Final in November and came off the bench in the second leg in December. In 2018, Julio Buffarini took Jara’s place in the lineup in domestic matches while Jara got the Copa Lib appearances.

Jara had been associated to numerous squads in the last few days, starting with an apparent move with Argentine side San Lorenzo falling through. That was followed with links to Spanish side Leganes and unnamed Liga MX sides, and most recently the Portland Timbers were mentioned as a potential landing spot. In between Jara and a brief mention of River Plate midfielder Leonardo Ponzio having some interest from D.C., the mere thought of D.C. United scouting the Copa Libertadores Final boggles the mind.

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