Columbus Crew SC use special Discovery Rule to sign Ghanaian midfielder Mohammed Abu.
Columbus Crew SC have signed Ghanaian defensive midfielder Mohammed Abu through the special Discovery Rule. Abu marks the fourth Ghana native on the Crew’s active roster. Jonathan Mensah, Harrison Afful, and Lalas Abubakar are the other three.
Mohammed comes to Columbus after playing in Norway’s top league for Stromsgodset. He made 82 league appearances – all of which were starts – over three years, and is listed as a defensive-midfielder. Mohammed has recorded five goals and three assists in 163 professional appearances. Besides playing in Tippeligaen, he also made stops at FC Lorient in France’s Ligue 1, and Rayo Vallecano in Spain’s La Liga.
Head Coach Gregg Berhalter Gives his thoughts on Abu
“Mohammed is a talented, technical player that we believe will fit well into our system and style of play,” he says in a statement issued by the club. Across his experience in Norway, France, and Spain, we believe that a combination of his experience, skill set, and character will be a good fit for Crew SC.”
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About Mohammed Abu
Abu moved from Ghana to Manchester City in 2010. From there, he was immediately loaned to Stromsgodset. He played parts of three seasons, making 46 league appearances before being loaned to Rayo Vallecano and FC Lorient in the 2012-13 season. Abu recorded 11 appearances in all competitions during his time in France and Spain. He was then briefly sent on loan to Danish club AGF Aarhus before returning to Stromsgodset in 2014. That move made him a permanent on the Norwegian team’s roster.
Abu has made three career appearances with the Ghanaian National Team. He was also a teammate of Crew SC striker Ola Kamara during his first stint at Stromsgodset. Crew SC signed Abu as a Special Discovery Player.
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What Is A Discovery Player?
For one player on a club’s roster (a ‘Special Discovery Player’), a club is able to amortize the total amount of acquisition costs (up to $500,000) over the term of the player’s contract, according to the MLS (Major League Soccer) roster rules.
Columbus Crew SC are currently in Sao Paulo, Brazil for their first preseason camp. They’ll return to Ohio on February 9th and train outside Columbus before heading to Charleston, South Carolina for the Carolina Challenge Cup in mid-February.
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