Rumor: Portland Timbers eyeing Roy Miller

Deportivo Saprissa just won the 2016 Invierno title in Costa Rica's Primera Division, securing a place in the 2017-18 CONCACAF Champions League. The club will also be competing in the quarterfinals of the 2016-17 CCL: it is reliably one of the better teams in Costa Rica and the region, and it has the trophies and solid CCL performances to prove it.

Unsurprisingly, Saprissa's roster is of interest to MLS teams. Among others, Francisco Calvo and Daniel Colindres have been linked with moves to North America, but it seems Portland Timbers have got jump on any league rivals hoping to pillage the Saprissa squad: midfielder David Guzman is expected to sign with Portland.

Guzman's signing was presumed to explain Timbers head coach Caleb Porter's recent presence in Costa Rica. His team had a good look at Saprissa in this season's CCL group stage. Portland couldn't figure out how to beat Saprissa, but it appears to have figured out it could benefit from a player or two from the Costa Rican heavyweight's squad.

Surprisingly, perhaps, one of those players might be Roy Miller. Teletica Deportes reports the former New York Red Bulls defender could be lining up another stint in MLS, as part of Caleb Porter's apparent desire to emulate Saprissa's recent work.

Miller logged 140 appearances in all competitions for RBNY: joint 11th on the club's all-time appearances list. He was on RBNY's roster from 2010 to 2015, in which time the Red Bulls never missed the MLS playoffs, and twice won the Supporters' Shield.

As it happens, the two Shield-winning seasons were also years when Miller's time on the field was limited by injury. In 2015, his injury issues saw him lose his starting place at left back to Kemar Lawrence, and that set the stage for his exit from the club.

Though perhaps remembered more by fans for his RBNY career lowlights rather than highlights, Miller is one of the Red Bulls' all-time appearance leaders for a reason: he is a consistent (not a typo) and versatile defender, of sufficient ability to have won almost 60 caps for Cost Rica.

At 32, he is perhaps no longer what he was for RBNY - a forward-thinking left back who seemed more at home in the final third than defending his own penalty area - but he's also a capable center back. Indeed, though he was not a first-choice starter at the tournament, Miller was part of Jorge Luis Pinto's exceptional defensive unit at the 2014 World Cup, playing 90 minutes in Costa Rica's group stage finale - when a demoralized England was held to a 0-0 draw as Los Ticos clinched top spot in their group with just one goal conceded in three games.

Roy Miller can play, and he's currently a regular for a better team than the Portland Timbers. Signing him is not the craziest idea Caleb Porter has ever had, if indeed there is any truth to this rumor.