FC Cincinnati acquired Fanendo Adi and Fatai Alashe as their first MLS players, as announced in a press conference on Monday.
FCC traded $450,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) and $400,000 in MLS Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) to the Portland Timbers for Designated Player Fanendo Adi. With on-field performances or an additional transfer, Portland could receive up to $100,000 more in TAM from Cincinnati.
Adi scored 54 goals in his 126 appearances for Portland. He spent four years in Portland finding success under manager Caleb Porter, but has recently fallen out of favor with new manager Giovanni Savorese, who runs a different system. Under Savorese this season, Adi has played in 14 matches, with three goals and two assists.
Before Portland Adi played at FC Copenhagen and also has experience for the Nigerian National Team, although he was not on the 2018 World Cup roster.
The forward is 6-foot-4 and is still in his prime at 27-years-old.
Cincinnati will get Alashe on loan from the San Jose Earthquakes of the MLS for the rest of the season. He will join the team when they move up to the MLS next season as well.
Alashe was the former fourth overall pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft out of Michigan State University. The 24-year-old has five goals in his career as a defensive midfielder. He has not played much in 2018 (only 12 matches) under first-year head coach Mikael Stahre.
Both players will finish the season with FC Cincinnati in the USL, before leading the team into the MLS next season.
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