Timbers’ Jose Adolfo Valencia Will Undergo Knee Surgery, Miss 6-12 Months

“Our No. 1 priority is ensuring the long-term physical health of Jose,” Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson said in a team release. “We are pleased to have worked with his former club in Colombia on amended terms of his transfer, considering the circumstances. We are very committed to Jose as a person and as a player, and intend to return to the original terms of his transfer agreement when he returns to full health following rehabilitation.”

The release says Valencia will occupy a spot on the Timbers’ Disabled List, but reading between the lines and comments owner Merritt Paulson made on Twitter, the cost of Valencia has been greatly reduced. If his salary was reduced all the way to the league minimum and there’s no loan fee, he would not count against the salary cap. He will undergo his surgery and rehabilitation in Portland.

Although the release pointedly does not specify when the injury occurred, it seems highly likely that Valencia came to Portland as damaged goods. Paulson noted, via Twitter, that the deal has been termed a loan only temporarily. At the end of the rehabilitation, Paulson tweeted, if Valencia has been given a clean bill of health, the Timbers would still be obligated to complete the purchase. That would suggest that his original team, Independiente Sante Fe, is at least tacitly acknowledging that he was injured prior to joining the Timbers.

For more on the situation, be sure to check out Timbers blog Stumptown Footy.