The Colorado Rapids continue to add young talent to the roster this offseason.
On Thursday, the club announced the signing of two additional players to homegrown contracts — defender Michael Edwards and winger Dantouma Toure.
Edwards, a 20-year-old from Woodbridge, Va., and spent the last two years with Wolfsburg Academy in Germany. He made 14 appearances for Wolfsburg’s U-19s before being promoted, and starting 17 times, for Wolfsburg II of Germany’s fourth division. The 5-foot-11 defender also trained with the senior team.
“Michael is a very promising talent who we’ve been monitoring for some time now,” Rapids general manager Pádraig Smith said. “He’s a powerful and athletic defender with good distribution and who possesses the qualities we need in our center-backs. As we continue to emphasize youth development as a foundation for long-term success, we believe Michael has the potential to turn into an outstanding defender and are delighted to welcome him to the club.”
Edwards was originally a part of D.C. United’s Academy. The Rapids sent $75,000 of 2021 allocation money to secure Edwards’ MLS rights from the club. There could be additional allocation money should Edwards meet the performance standards.
Toure was acquired from the New York Red Bulls, where he spent the last three seasons in their academy. The Rapids sent $50,000 in 2021 allocation money with performance incentives for more to possibly be sent to the Red Bulls.
The 16-year-old winger scored three goals and tallied three assists in 13 appearances (six starts) for the New York Red Bulls II in the USL Championship in 2020.
“[Toure] is an exciting talent who has already shown tremendous potential through his performances in the USL Championship,” said Smith. “He’s powerful and explosive on the ball and has an ability to take on defenders that allows him to be a difference-maker. We believe he has all the qualities necessary to develop into an elite player and are excited to see what the future holds for him.”
Both signings have spent time with the U.S. men’s national team. Edwards was on the U-17 roster for the 2016 Aegean Cup in Turkey. And Toure was part of the U.S. U-17 squad for the UEFA Development Tournament in England in February 2020.
Already one of the younger teams in MLS, the Rapids have now announced four homegrown signings over the last two days.
"four" - Google News
March 05, 2021 at 04:26AM
https://ift.tt/2Osc2VF
Rapids announce two additional homegrown signings, bringing total to four in last two days - The Denver Post
"four" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2ZSDCx7
https://ift.tt/3fdGID3
No comments:
Post a Comment