The Seattle Sounders have brought in another center back to camp. 21-year-old Roberto Chen arrived in preseason camp on Monday. The club is currently training in Tucson, AZ prior to their CONCACAF Champions League knockout stage match with Club America.

This is not the first time Chen has been in camp with the Sounders. He trained with the club back in 2013 and the Sounders were eager to bring him back to see if he can help add depth to the squad. RPCTV in Panama reported Chen was close to signing a four-year deal.

“Were happy to have Roberto here,” Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid said. “He’s a player that we’ve had our eye on for a while, and we almost had something – he ended up at Malaga, which was a great opportunity for him there – and now we have maybe another chance for him. We’ll see how he does this week and then make a decision.”

WHO IS CHEN

Chen has 16 caps with Panama at the international level. He made his debut with the national team in 2011 and was a prominent figure in the lineup during the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. On the domestic side of things, Chen most recently played for Spanish Club Malaga. He signed a three-year deal with the Spanish club in 2013, but barely played with them and was sent out on loan two separate times.

After traveling over the weekend, Chen was fatigued and it was expected that he would be.

“He’s an inside player and I thought today he seemed a little fatigued because he flew all day on Saturday and down here on Sunday,” Schmid said. “Then we go into a training day here, and it was a tough training as well. But we’re looking forward to seeing how he does.”

WHY BRING CHEN TO SEATTLE

Chen would add depth and youth to a back line that is beginning to get a little long in the tooth. Chad Marshall will be 32 in August, Brad Evans will be 31 in April, Zach Scott will be 36 in July and Roman Torres will be 30 in March and is recovery from an ACL injury he sustained in September.

Sounders fans may hesitate at the thought of two center back from Panama (Chen & Torres) being on the team. During tournaments and FIFA international dates, the Sounders would have to play with backups at those two spots.

GOOD MOVE FOR THE SOUNDERS

In the end, the Sounders should bring Chen in and get him used to the squad and give him some valuable playing time. Seattle needs more youth and depth on their team as it was very evident in their playoff loss to FC Dallas last year.