Inter Miami have waved goodbye to one of their young stars Facundo Farias who has completed his move to Estudiantes.
Farias had long been linked with a move away from the Herons but one MLS obstacle was appearing to slow down any potential exit.
Mascherano had previously said he would rely on Farias while he remained with the club, but many of his comments on the star were pretty coy.
With Inter Miami confirming the exit of Farias, who missed the whole of last season with injury, they are now edging closer to bringing in a replacement.
Clik here to view.
Inter Miami close to finalizing Rodriguez signing
Mascherano has not been afraid to put his stamp on the Inter Miami side since taking over as manager and has made some strong additions.
Inter Miami recently signed midfielder Telasco Segovia and the Herons also captured Celta Vigo star Tadeo Allende.
With the exit of Farias now confirmed it almost certainly gives the green light to welcome Racing midfielder Baltasar Rodríguez.
According to DSports Radio, Inter Miami could finalize the arrival of the Argentine youngster imminently.
The qualities of Rodriguez and Farias are very similar but moving on a player who suffered a major ACL injury is no bad thing.
How Rodriguez and Farias compare
On the face of it, Rodriguez appears to be somewhat of a like-for-like swap for the departing Farias.
Both are versatile midfielders and they are similar in age with Rodriguez (21) being one year younger than the former Inter Miami midfielder Farias.
Farias managed just 13 games with Inter Miami and Herons fans rarely got to see the best of him.
| Facundo Farias* | Baltasar Rodriguez | |
| Games Played | 13 | 35 |
| Goals | 3 | 2 |
| Assists | 2 | 4 |
With much of Inter Miami’s pre-season remaining they will be looking to embed Rodriguez before they take on New York City FC in their opening MLS game.