Welcome To The New Year

Sorry for going quiet for two weeks.  First Christmas travel then a bug going around laid me out for a couple of days and then it got my wife.  Things are back to normal now though (or as normal as life ever gets).

Of course, its not like anything happened from the Rapids perspective over the last two weeks.  There's really only been one piece of news and one strong rumor.  The news is that we, not surprisingly, passed on everyone in Round 2 of the Re-Entry Draft back on Dec. 22nd.  The strong rumor is that the Rapids will be acquiring Ghanaian midfielder Bismark Adjei-Boateng from Manchester City.

Adjei-Boateng is 22 years old and has been with Man City since 2011 and he's been on loan to Norwegian side Stromsgodset since he signed.   He plays in the attacking midfielder role and the initial read on him is a possible Jones replacement.  His acquisition would likely require a transfer fee.

I like the idea of this move in the long-term.  A 22 year old player with multiple years of first-team experience is a good find.  That said, I'm not convinced that he can replace JJ right now.  In my opinion MLS is a better league than Norway so I'm not expecting a 22 year old making a move to a new league to take over from a guy who (when he played) was playing at a possible league-MVP level.  I think he can be a key component long term but for 2017 we'll need to find an additional player in the role.