Steven Mendoza Bolsters Up Attacking Game

KOLKATA, INDIA – DECEMBER 16: Sanju Pradhan of Atletico de Kolkata and Stiven Mendoza of Chennaiyin FC in action during their ISL semi-final, second leg match, at Yuva Bharati Krirangan on December 16, 2015 in Kolkata, India. Chennaiyin FC stormed into the final of the Indian Super League football on 4-2 aggregate against defending champions Atletico de Kolkata despite losing the semi-final second leg 1-2 here today. (Photo by Prateek Choudhury/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The 2016 campaign has begun, but that doesn’t mean NYCFC’s shopping spree ends. During the week, the club continues to improve the squad anyway they can and they did exactly that after acquiring the 23-year old striker, Steven Mendoza, on a season long loan.

While the deal seems to be an exciting one for the board, they also had to cut ties with one of their own. It took money to bring Mendoza to the Big Apple and with most of their allocation money gone, NYCFC gave up midfielder Andrew Jacobson to the Vancouver Whitecaps for allocation money.

In Patrick Vieira‘s eyes, this deal is solid as his midfield competition calms down and his attack game gets a boost. The Columbia native comes from the Brazilian side Corinthians as he made 25 appearances while scoring four goals and helped them to become national champions.

Mendoza’s breakout season came last year in the India with Chennaiyin FC on season long loan deal. The speedster broke out and netted 13 goals earning him the league’s Golden Boot.

Mendoza should blend in really well with NYCFC’s upfront core especially with the youngsters. We’re seeing Vieira’s tendency in buying young players to help them improve in the future. Mendoza and Khiry Shelton on the sides could be a deadly combo for this league.

On the club’s official site, Vieira talked about Mendoza and what he brings to the club,

“First of all, Mendoza brings additional pace up front and is really good in the 1v1 situations. Technically he’s a fantastic player and can score goals. He’s another young talented player that we add to our roster and he will be really important for us this season. ”

Viera said.

With this move, it seems that maybe Vieira putting his chips on his attacking game as he defense is far from even average at this point. Still early in the season, NYCFC’s attacking core looks to be legit and Mendoza just adds fuel to the fire.