Like every year, Major League Soccer (MLS) teams have filled their coffers with players from Europe looking for a new adventure. These athletes, a little less known to the general public, but just as effective, will become crowd favourites.
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Five players from the Old Continent could change the face of their respective formations in 2023.
Sergiy Kryvtsov
In addition to adding the dangerous Josef Martinez to the attack, Inter Miami CF made an important acquisition on defense by bringing in veteran Ukrainian Sergiy Kryvtsov. This is the first time the 31-year-old will play for a foreign club, having played for prolific Shakhtar Donetsk since 2010.
It is particularly because of the war raging in his country that Kryvtsov has chosen to head for Florida.
“I heard the sound of the explosions, my children heard it and it shouldn’t happen. As a father, I have to give security to my family. I am proud of my brave Ukrainian people, and obviously of our soldiers, and I am confident that we will win,” he told the daily “Miami Herald” on January 31.
The centre-back has played in the Champions League against several of the best clubs on the planet. He also defended the colors of his country 31 times.
Mateusz Klich
By betting on Klich, DC United has solidified its midfield and above all added the first stone of the new foundation of the team led by Wayne Rooney. The Pole is a regular in the big leagues, having played in England, Germany and the Netherlands in the last decade. This is not the first addition from his country of origin that Rooney has made in recent months. Ravel Morrison and Christian Benteke are two other veterans the former Manchester United player has faced during his playing career.
Andreas Maxso
In Colorado, the Quebecer Moïse Bombito will have an excellent mentor to rely on in central defense, the Dane Andreas Maxso. The 28-year-old’s value has skyrocketed since returning to his 2019 parent club Brondby IF. The colossus will have an important position in head coach Robin Fraser’s squad. The defense has struggled in 2022, a year after finishing atop MLS’s Western Conference.
Dante Vanzeir
Vanzeir is at the center of the curious successes of Union Saint-Gilloise, Belgium, in 2022-2023. This small club went from promotion to the first division to league champion in the space of a year. And he continues to flirt with the top of the rankings. The new player for the New York Red Bulls, he scored 10 goals in just 20 Jupiler Pro League games in recent months and received the competition’s Golden Boot in 2021. The Belgian was thus a very coveted. Presented to the press on Wednesday, Vanzeir said he wanted to score at least 15 goals per season.
Georgios Giakoumakis
Speaking of prolific goalscorers, Georgios Giakoumakis has quite the track record. Atlanta United’s new right-hand man, with the departure of Martinez, will have big shoes to fill and fans to charm. On paper, everything seems to smile at the Greek. He was successively top scorer in the Eredivisie in the Netherlands, before doing the same in Scotland as a member of Glasgow Celtic. MLS is now home to two of Greece’s finest strikers in recent years, with Taxi Fountas also making an impression with DC United in 2022.