"Xavier
is an athletic, versatile player,” said Revolution General Manager Michael
Burns. “We believe he will add a presence to our midfield and improve the
overall quality of our team."
Kouassi,
26, will join the Revolution following his third season with Swiss Super League
side FC Sion. The midfielder has captained the club for the last two seasons
and paced it in minutes played during the 2014/15 campaign. In total, he has
logged 7,062 minutes and four assists in 82 appearances across all
competitions, establishing himself as a cornerstone of the club’s lineup. This
season, he has captained FC Sion into the UEFA Europa League Round of 32,
marking one of the club’s most successful outings in a European competition
where the club faced Liverpool FC in the group stage amongst others. In
addition, Sion has never lost a final in its107-year history and Kouassi helped
lead the club to its 13th Swiss Cup title in 2015 against the league favorite,
FC Basel.
A few weeks
ago Revs president Brian Bilello teased a DP signing that sent the fanbase into
a buzz.
Completed a DP signing this week. Pre-contract, should be able to share more details in the next few weeks. More signings still to come.— Brian Bilello (@RevsPrez) January 19, 2016
Rumors swirled about who it could be. Ricardo Costa,
Cheick Tiote and Nemanja Vidic were the prevalent rumors. In the end it's
Xavier Kouassi, a 26 year old CM/CDM from FC Sion where he was captain for two
years. He joins 1st round draft pick fullback Jordan McCrary and
defender/CDM Sambinha as the three new signings so far this season.
When this move was announced earlier I had the same reaction as many
other fans. "Who?" But the more time I gave it, the more I've loved
it. Here's some footage of him in action:
First impressions: fast as hell, athletic,
aggressive. Just what the Revs needed. More from the Revs on him, aside form
what GM Michael Burns said above: "As captain and
leader of his current Club we feel we've acquired a player in Xavier who is in
the prime of his career,” said Revolution Head Coach Jay Heaps.
“We look forward to his arrival."
• Captain of Swiss Super League side
FC Sion
• Former captain of Swiss Super League
side Servette FC
• Seven career starts in UEFA Europa
League matches
• 2015 Swiss Cup Champion
• Capped by the Ivorian National Team
“That’s one of the things that we’re looking
for and adding in our midfield,” said Burns, calling Kouassi a holding
midfielder also capable of playing box to box. “We’ve got a lot of technical
players, but he’s got a little bit of grit to him, a little bit of bite. That’s
probably not a bad thing for our team.”
Grit and bite. Kouassi and Scotty Caldwell
could form a formidable midfield for years to come, to scrappy pit bulls
annoying opposing teams all game. We have Kouassi in his prime, and Scotty
should be entering his at age 24. Add to it the fact Kelyn Rowe (24), Teal
Bunbury (25), Juan Agudelo (23), Diego Fagundez (20) and Andrew Farrell (23)
just to name a few are all under 25, the Revs have a fantastic young core going
forward, in addition to the 27+ year olds for leadership.
Kouassi isn't the sexy name Revs fans wanted.
But he may be the name they needed. As an Arsenal fan, I had no idea who
Mohamed Elneny was when the Gunners purchased him from FC Basel (same league
Kouassi played in). But he was impressive in a similar role for the London
giants in his debut.
I ask all the people bringing up his FIFA
rating (not exactly the best way to measure talent and future potential),
and those generally just disappointed and ready to condemn the FO for
this signing to name me a player who was available, filled a need, was a
big name, and wanted to play in New England. Guess what? You can't have it
all. A young, big name from Europe isn't exactly chomping at the bit to
come play in Foxboro, you know? Who did you want? Cause odds are the
parent club didn't want to sell. Older, big name players would have been called
a promotional signing, and a signing like the one Kouassi fits is called
not enough to move the needle. Pick a side.
One Reddit user made comment on Kouassi. "He's
a good player, still quite young, a leader/captain, has a quite aggressive
playstyle which is great for a DM, but also great for collecting yellow cards.
At the end of the day he's a starter in a decent Europa League team that got 2
draws against Liverpool this season. I'm surprised that he isn't staying in
Europe, and sad to see him go. Good guy too." Sounds good to me!
He won't be able to play until the end of
June since his contract doesn't run out until then, but
I'm already looking forward to his debut.
Edit: Almost forgot. This could spell the end
of the Jermaine Jones Era in New England. Kouassi is seemingly a replacement,
although the Revs denied that. They maintain they still want Jones back,but I'm
skeptical.
Other Revs news and notes:
-Burns said the roster is still taking shape, so look
for more signings, probably of a smaller variety (think trialists or the other
draft picks)
-As news has surfaced the past few days that
Chelsea captain John Terry will be leaving Stamford Bridge this summer,
I've seen some people calling for him to join New England. No thanks. Talk
about an old DP. Terry is 35, on the decline, won't move the needle too much
among general fans in the Greater Boston area, and may have a bad attitude
about playing in MLS, and specifically New England. We aren't LA
or NYC, or even Orlando.
-Jurgen Klinsmann heaped praise on
Lee Nguyen following the USMNT 3-2 win over Iceland Sunday afternoon. Jurgy said Lee impressed him from the jump and that after the first week of January Camp, there was no doubt in his mind that the Revs playmaker had to be in his Starting XI against Iceland. Look for more of him going forward #Nguyening #NguyenterIsComing #TheNguyensOfChange
Klinsmann spoke at some length about Lee Nguyen yesterday. I thought this was interesting:#USMNT pic.twitter.com/wPwSWXS62b— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 1, 2016
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