Rowdies acquire Steele, Sanchez from Whitecaps

With a roster reeling from a glut of injuries, FC Tampa Bay bolstered its midfield depth by acquiring Jonny Steele and Ricardo Sanchez from the Vancouver Whitecaps for future considerations on Tuesday.

Both veterans, Steele and Sanchez joined the Whitecaps prior to this season, Steele previously having played for the Puerto Rico Islanders and Sanchez the Minnesota Thunder.

"It's a great deal for us," Rowdies coach Paul Dalglish said. "It adds us great attacking options at a very important part of the season. We've acquired two players who last year were two of the very best players in the league."

Both have played regularly off the bench for the Whitecaps this season, Steele making 13 appearances in the USSF Division II and Sanchez making 12. A native of Larne, Northern Ireland, Steele is a former USL-1 Most Valuable Player, earning the award while with the Islanders in 2008.

"He's a fantastic player," Dalglish said of Steele. "If you look at the number of goals he scored while he was in Puerto Rico where he played in his favorite position, and the amount of assists he had playing in his favorite position, he's a quality player. You don't get team of the year twice and win MVP of the league unless you're a fantastic player, and Jonathan's still only 24."

The team is hoping both players will arrive in Tampa before Thursday's game with the Rochester Rhinos.

With the Rowdies currently sitting in seventh place in the league standings, team Owner and President Andrew Nestor said it was a move the side needed to make in order to maintain a pursuit of a championship.

"Steele and Sanchez are both proven playmakers in the league and add leadership and offensive firepower to our squad," Nestor said in a press release. "Despite several recent injuries to starters on our team, we are in position to make a title run and the acquisition of these players will help support that effort."

Dalglish agreed, and hopes the hunger both players should bring to the team will put the team in position to challege for the league title.

"We're acquiring two players with a point to prove, and a real hunger," Dalglish said. "There's nothing better than a hungry player with something to prove, and we're getting two not just very talented players, but two very hungry players."