Alberth Elis stands ready to prove he's worth Dynamo's big investment

The preseason game was getting chippy when a veteran player from the opposing team challenged Dynamo forward Alberth Elis without attempting to play the ball - instead stepping on Elis' right ankle and sending him to the grass writhing in pain.

The referee did not blow his whistle against New England's Diego Fagundez, so Dynamo midfielder Boniek Garcia - a veteran in his own right - took matters into his own hands. Actually, his elbow.

When Fagundez gained possession moments later, Garcia reached full speed an instant into his 10-yard sprint, raised his left arm and hit Fagundez's face long after Fagundez had passed the ball.

The referee blew his whistle this time. Garcia, the 33-year-old with one red card in 10,509 minutes over 140 Major League Soccer appearances who always seems to smile, was sent off.

Anything to protect Elis - the Dynamo's biggest investment for the 2018 season.

"It was a heated moment for me," Garcia said through a translator a few days later. "I think I lost control for a little trying to defend my teammate. It's obviously something that won't ever happen again but we need to defend what is ours and in that moment, I let it get to me."

Publicly, the Dynamo say they have no superstars. They might even treat their players that way behind closed doors, but it is obvious Elis, 22, carries extra significance.

Last year as a loan player from Mexican club Monterrey, Elis, set MLS on fire with his unique combination of pace and power. He flourished in the Dynamo's counter-attacking style, often sending left backs spinning as they tried to mark him in the open field.

His final statistics of 10 goals and four assists in 26 appearances don't set the grass on fire, but that didn't fool anybody around the league. Dynamo general manager Matt Jordan said the club knew early last summer it wanted to complete a permanent transfer.

Dynamo get their man

After months of negotiations, Dynamo ownership finally wrote the check that brought Elis to Houston on a full-time basis. Though the club never released the dollar amount on that check, one person with knowledge of the situation told the Chronicle it was an "above-average transfer fee."

The club has not released the length of the contract, but another source said it is three or four years.

The situation is not lost on Elis, who has said he always wanted to join the Dynamo after his loan.

"There is a lot more responsibility (for me)," Elis said through a translator. "If the team was willing to invest in me, it's because they expect me to do things better from last year. I am committed to the team and I will work hard to do my best this season."

That much has been clear this preseason. Elis has scored, but he has added a dimension this year. When opponents double-team him, he has shown the ability to find open teammates.

With a front line that includes talented scorers Mauro Manotas and Romell Quioto, that dimension could make the Dynamo's attack one of the biggest threats in MLS.

Manotas said Elis is faster and playing in "beast mode." Defender DaMarcus Beasley said Elis is more mature.

"He knows people are going to kick him," Beasley said. "He knows people are going to try to get in his head. His maturity on the field has grown leaps and bounds. He played a lot of minutes last season. He came in very good shape in preseason this year. It shows he wants to get better.

"The sky is the limit for him. He can do what he wants. This season you're going to see that on the field."

Ellis began playing soccer like any other kid in Honduras. He played in the park. He played in the street. He even played goalkeeper for two years.

During a youth league game when he was 10 years old he was moved to forward and scored two goals. He never put on goalkeeper gloves again.

"I definitely liked being a forward more than a goalkeeper," Elis said, smiling. "It's better to score goals than to be scored on."

Prodigy in Honduras

Elis joined Honduran club Olimpia when he was 14 years old. That's where Garcia saw him for the first time and noticed his speed and explosiveness. Dynamo coach Wilmer Cabrera, who has worked for FIFA and CONCACAF, said he first noticed Elis when he was 15 years old.

Elis made his professional debut for Olimpia when he was 17. He played his first game for the national team when he was 18.

At first, his talent was raw. It could even be argued he was more raw than polished last season with the Dynamo.

This year, though, he appears to be shedding that label. He also appears to be ready to prove he is worthy of the second-largest transfer fee in Dynamo history.

Now that he is theirs, they are ready to let him loose.

"Alberth's biggest quality is his ability to be a constant threat," Jordan said. "He constantly puts defenders on their heels. That's hard to find."