With Major League Soccer approaching its Opening Day for the 2005 season, teams are quickly making moves to ready themselves for the opening campaign.
The weekend's biggest move saw the MetroStars signing forward John Wolyniec, coming off his best season of his career, to a four-year contract.
Fernando Clavijo continues his vast makeover of the Colorado Rapids squad by bringing on trial Wolde Harris, who returns to one of his former Major League Soccer clubs after a season in Sweden. Harris has done well so far in Colorado's training camp, scoring twice in two games over a collegiate squad and Swiss side FC Dornach. D.C. United has added to its midfield depth with the signing of Clyde Simms from the A-League's Richmond Kickers, giving Peter Nowak another option in the middle of the park this season.Wolyniec is coming off easily his best season for the MetroStars, in which he scored ten goals to lead the team in 2004. The rangy forward will likely continue his starting role this season for the MetroStars even with the addition of Youri Djorkaeff. Aside from Mike Magee, who played a great deal of last season in a midfield role, the MetroStars lack an established out-and-out striker aside from Wolyniec. It seem that both sides feel that the four-year deal given to the 28 year-old was well earned over his two seasons with the team.
"I've been through a lot with a bunch of different teams and I finally feel like I'm in a place where I'm really growing as a player," said Wolyniec to the New Jersey Herald News. "I feel like each year I get better, and in the past few years I think I've shown that. Last year was a step in the right direction and I just want to build on that."
"John's very happy and the Nick and Bob were really great in this process and they wanted to reward John for everything he's meant to the club," said Wolyniec's agent, Ron Waxman. "This was a case of a team doing right by one of its players."
With four regulars set to leave camp for a training stint with the national team, Clavijo set to get a full view off what he has available. Aside from Harris, other trialists include former Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday winger Terry Cooke, Uruguayan midfielder Martin Morales, and Haitian defender Stephane Guillaume. Harris seems to be fighting for a role behind the likely starting duo up top of Jeff Cunningham and Jean-Phillipe Peguero, with Chris Carrieri and Luchi Gonzalez as his main competitors. Depth at forward is needed, especially if Cunningham and/or Peguero suffer time out due to injuries. Those trialists would need to be signed before next month's opener, as well as draft picks including Israeli defender Guy Melamed - who has been impressive so far this preseason.
Simms' addition to D.C. United comes via a transfer from the Kickers, and the 22 year-old signed a four-year deal with MLS containing league-owned
options in the following years of the deal. With Dema Kovalenko still rehabbing from off-season surgery, Simms could get a chance to see some playing time but it might be difficult to break into the starting lineup in front of Brian Carroll or Joshua Gros. Gros seems to be the first option at one wing in Nowak's five-man midfield, but Simms could be given the chance on the right with Freddy Adu, Carroll, Christian Gomez, Kovalenko, and Ben Olsen options in the middle. When all five are available, one may be pushed out onto the wing, seeing Simms on the bench.
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