The Philadelphia Union announced on Wednesday that they have signed Panamanian international Gabriel “Gavilan” Gomez.

The press release says “the central midfielder will be eligible to join the Union upon receiving his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate. Per MLS and Club policy, terms of the agreements were not disclosed.”

Gomez joins the Union from Mexican Second Division side Indios de Cuidad Juarez.

Panamanian news outlet prensa.com first reported that the 27-year-old defensive midfielder was close to signing a deal with the Philadelphia Union last week.

Kerith Gabriel then reported in the Philadelphia Daily News on Dec. 15 that the Union were close to announcing a “blockbuster deal” with Gomez. The headline of another Gabriel piece about a Gomez deal on Dec. 16 read “Panama’s Gomez signs with Union” although the contents of the article indicated that Gomez had not yet signed a contract.

Gabriel wrote in his original report that Gomez is the “the same box-to-box defender/midfielder that was a beast in Panama’s 2-1 win over the United States in the group stage of this summer’s Gold Cup…It’s believed that Gomez will be the perfect fit to complete Nowak’s four-man back line playing on the left side of the pitch…Gomez has speed and fits well for Nowak’s penchant to attack the flanks with his outside defenders. Though listed as a defender for country, the roster on Indios website lists Gomez as a midfielder, most likely a holding midfielder similar to that of current Union mid Brian Carroll.”

Nicknamed “The Hawk,” Gomez has played with nine different clubs since 2002 scoring 12 goals, including three years in Portugal with Belenenses. According to Wikipedia, Belenenses paid €300,000 to Independiente de Santa Fe for Gomez, which would have been approximately $390,000 at the time. He has 70 caps with the Panamanian national team, scoring eight goals. You can read a crappy translation of the report here.

Highlights of Gomez in Panama’s victory over the USMNT in the Gold Cup are below.