Chivas USA wants to add a marquee Mexican-born player

But that lineage hasn't helped the Major League Soccer club land its own celebrated Mexican-born player.

Chivas USA has only two Mexican-born players on its roster, defender Claudio Suarez and midfielder Francisco Mendoza.

But Chivas USA officials say the club remains serious about signing a big-name player of its own, much like the Galaxy did with David Beckham and the Chicago Fire with Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

Tuesday, however, is the last day MLS teams can sign players from outside the U.S. until the signing window reopens from June 15 through Aug. 15.

"We will only add a DP if it makes us better on the field, gets our fans excited and helps us sell tickets," said Chivas USA's chief executive, Shawn Hunter.

For months now, Chivas USA behind the scenes has been trying to find a notable player in Mexico who is interested in playing for their team, while also inquiring with other MLS teams that might be willing to trade their designated player slot.

A designated player spot allows an MLS team to spend as much as it wants to sign a player, but only $415,000 of that sum counts against the team's salary cap.

Chivas USA does not have a designated player spot at the moment because it traded its to New York when it acquired midfielder Amado Guevara in 2006.

Said Chivas USA Coach Preki: "First we need to find a [DP] player. When we do that, then we can try to make a push for that slot."

Chivas' quest to land a designated player doesn't mean it has to sign a Mexican-born player, but that is the team's first choice, Hunter said.

"Second [choice] would be someone that has had some success in Mexico," he said, "but it might be an international [player]."

In early February, Chivas USA did make a run at Mexican national team forward Adolfo "Bofo" Bautista, a Chivas official said. Bautista is under contract with Mexican club Jaguares, and that team didn't want to let him go.

Bofo becomes a free agent at the end of the current season, however, and a Chivas USA source said the team will make another run at him this summer.

Chivas USA is also interested in Chivas de Guadalajara forward Omar Bravo, but Bravo will become a free agent when the league in Mexico ends in June, and he seems focused on moving to a team in Europe, the MLS club said.

Media reports in Mexico have also linked Chivas USA to Argentine forward Bruno Marioni, who has been playing in Mexico since 2004 and currently plays for Atlas, a rival of parent club Guadalajara.

Hunter said Chicago's signing of Blanco last summer was the smartest designated player deal so far in the MLS.

When Blanco arrived in late July the Fire was in last place and had won one of its previous 12 games. Blanco then took the Fire and its fans all the way to the Eastern Conference championship game as he became a finalist for the MLS most-valuable-player award.

"It made their team better down the stretch, got the community excited, got the Hispanic community excited and also got the non-Hispanic community excited," Hunter said of Blanco's signing.

jaime.cardenas@latimes.com