SI.Com Report: Darren Mattocks Could Go to China

A report from Grant Wahl of Si.com says Darren Mattocks, the Whitecaps striker who's future with the club is seemingly always in question, may be on the move to China. In his report, Wahl says Mattocks is being pursued by a club in the Chinese Super League, although he stresses it is far from a done deal.

If it does get done, Mattocks would be the second MLS player to head to China recently, following Obafemi Martins.

Peter Schaad recently threw a little cold water on this rumor.

Sounds like Mattocks to China was never on. Just a tidal wave of speculation.

— Peter Schaad (@PeteSchaad) February 24, 2016

It would hardly be a surprise to see the Whitecaps sell Mattocks, given his disappointing Whitecaps career to date. Taken with the second overall pick in the 2012 SuperDraft, Mattocks has never materialized as a prolific goal scorer, and there have been plenty of times the Whitecaps have been aching for just that. Mattocks was credited for his increased maturity and harder work away from the ball in 2015, but he's also never been able to match his rookie season goal total of seven; Last year he appeared in 22 matches and started nine, and he slipped to just three goals. With more strikers in camp to compete with, it seemed like a foregone conclusion Mattocks would be gone. I mean, at this point I'm certainly of the opinion that the sale of Mattocks has more value for the Whitecaps than actually keeping him on the roster.

If a deal with Mattocks is to be done, it will happen sooner rather than later, with the Chinese transfer deadline on February 26th.