Happy to join @NYCFC and I’m looking forward to meeting my new family in New York. To all the fans I’m ready to give my best for the Club and bring home trophies to this great city. #ForTheCity ?????? pic.twitter.com/CMgVCDoFXY
— Héber Araújo dos Santos (@Heber__Araujo) March 21, 2019
NYCFC’s new striker Héber Araujo dos Santos is in Brazil working on his U.S. visa, which could take about a week.
It took New York City F.C. 111 days to find a new striker after David Villa’s departure. After finally acquiring their new forward Héber Araujo dos Santos on March 21, NYCFC has to wait a little longer before he can play for them.
The 27-year-old is in his home country Brazil working on his U.S. visa.
? | @DomeTorrent with the update on @Heber__Araujo ?? #WelcomeHéber ? #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/PJcC94JloV
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) March 27, 2019
“Right now he’s in Brazil for the visa,” the Boys in Blue head coach Domenec Torrent said in an interview at the club’s training facility.
Torrent is uncertain how long it will take for Heber to get his U.S. VISA but is leaning on next week.
“I don’t know, maybe, I hope next week. You never know [with] visa. I remember in Spain it was about two weeks [for me],” the 56-year-old coach said.
NYCFC will more than likely be without their new No. 9 in their next match against Toronto F.C. on Friday at 8:00 p.m.
Toronto is in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, sitting on a perfect 2W-0L-0T record while conceding three goals.
Meanwhile, The Pigeons haven’t won a game yet this season. They tied all three of their games to Orlando City SC, D.C. United and Los Angeles F.C. respectively. The club netted four goals in their first three outings of the season without a true striker.
NYCFC started their previous matches against Orlando and LAFC with attacking midfielder Maximiliano Moralez as their striker while midfielder Valentin Castellanos lined up on top against D.C. United.
However, New York’s goals came from Alexander Ring, who registered two, while Alexandru Mitrita and Ebenezer Ofori both notched one.
NYCFC’s next game after their trip to Toronto is against the Montreal Impact at Yankee Stadium on April 6. Héber could make his debut with the club then.
