VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps have acquired midfielder Efrain Juarez from Mexico's Monterrey for an undisclosed transfer fee, the Major League Soccer club announced Thursday.

The 29-year-old, who can also play right back, signed with Vancouver through 2019 using targeted allocation money, with a team option for the 2020 season.

Juarez has made a combined 274 professional appearances with Monterrey, fellow Mexican sides Pumas UNAM and Club America, Scotland's Celtic and Spain's Real Zaragoza.

He's also played 39 times for his country, including three matches at the 2010 World Cup.

"(Juarez is) an extremely talented player who has experience at the highest level, can play multiple positions, and is the type of character we want," Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson said in a statement. "Efrain's preferred position is in the middle of the park, and that's where I expect him to play the majority of minutes for us.

"We firmly believe in Efrain's technical ability, grit, and leadership qualities."

Juarez enters a Whitecaps midfield that will have a very different look in 2018 with the departures of Christian Bolanos and Nosa Igiebor, the retirement of Andrew Jacobson, and the uncertain status of Matias Laba, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament last season and still needs a contract.

"I'm so happy and excited for this new stage in my career," said Juarez, who spent two years with Barcelona's academy and has scored 11 times at the professional level. "It's an opportunity for me to keep growing in a new league and to be a part of an amazing club in Vancouver."

The five-foot-11, 155-pound native of Mexico City is Vancouver's seventh acquisition of a busy off-season that has also seen the club add strikers Kei Kamara and Anthony Blondell, while waving goodbye to Fredy Montero.

The Colombian forward is heading back to Portugal after signing with Sporting CP, where he played from 2013 to 2016, following a loan deal between the Whitecaps and China's Tianjin TEDA for the 2017 campaign.

Vancouver, which is coming off a third-place finish in the Western Conference, begins its 2018 pre-season Monday with player medicals. The Whitecaps open their schedule March 4 at B.C. Place Stadium against the Montreal Impact.