Djitté in Austin, a transfer of a new kind

In search of serious reinforcements in attack, Austin FC acquired Senegalese striker Moussa Djitté, announced the management of the club on Wednesday. As advertised on Football365 Africa, the defector from Grenoble signed a three-year contract (with an option year) with the Texas franchise. Austin FC’s acquisition of Djitté follows recent public statements by the club about their attacking need after confirming that His Moroccan-born center-forward Danny Hoesen would miss the rest of the season with a hip injury. In addition, the Texan club is going through a significant offensive famine having only scored once in their last seven matches. Austin FC is currently 17th in MLS for expected goals, but 26th for goals scored; which puts the club’s xG at 6.91 goals, the worst in MLS at the moment.

Djitté will occupy a place on the list of the MLS U22 Initiative. Officially launched at the start of this season, this initiative aims to encourage MLS clubs to invest more in young players at reasonable prices in order to resell later with real added value or added value. Each club is therefore authorized to sign a maximum of three players under the age of 22 (limited to one player if the club has three designated players over the age of 24), within the limits of the salary cap, which will not be fully counted. in the club’s budget. For example, an element that is part of the U22 initiative will only see about a third of its salary count in the budget, freeing up money to acquire other players. The annual salary must not, however, exceed the maximum cash on the payroll for a single player, namely $ 612,500.

21 years old, Moussa Djitté has registered 15 goals and two assists in 67 appearances (47 starts) with Grenoble, Ligue 2 club. He previously played for Swiss club FC Sion, where he scored four goals in 25 appearances (16 starts). After starting his professional career with ASC Niarry Tally in the Senegalese first division, the rookie also represented his country at the U-20 and U-23 levels.

« We are delighted to welcome Moussa to Austin FC, » sporting director Claudio Reyna said in the club’s official statement.  » It’s a promising young player with good room for improvement and a bright future ahead of him. As we continue to work hard to add quality players to our squad, we believe that Djitté is ready to contribute immediately to the progress of the club.  »  » I would like to thank Austin FC for giving me this opportunity, replied Djitté. I am looking forward to representing my new club and playing in front of the fans in this incredible environment that is Q2 Stadium. «