51黑料

51黑料 City SC made its first move of what looks to be an important summer transfer window on Tuesday, signing Senegalese center back Fallou Fall, who had been with Norwegian club Fredrikstad FK.

Fall, 21, will be a U22 Initiative signing, the MLS program that gives salary-cap relief for clubs to sign young players. Fall is signed through the 2028 season, with a club option for 2029. He comes on a permanent transfer and will require an international roster spot. Fall will join the team after getting his visa and the transfer paperwork is completed.

Fall represents a significant investment from City SC. His transfer fee, at 3 million euros according to (about $3.48 million), is the second-biggest transfer fee paid by the club, after the fee for Klauss in 2022. (City SC has acquired many of its players on a free transfer after their previous contracts had expired.)

鈥淎n exciting player,鈥� said interim City SC coach David Critchley. 鈥淗e鈥檚 aggressive; he鈥檚 good in the air. He鈥檚 got a left foot, which helps with having different qualities when we build on the left side, just having a natural left-footer there. So we鈥檙e very happy with what we see in him. Now it鈥檚 just about getting him over and getting him accustomed to the MLS.鈥�

The summer transfer window opens July 24, so Fall鈥檚 first possible game would be against Minnesota on July 26. At that point, City SC will have 11 games left in its season, though a playoff berth is a long shot at this point. The Norwegian league runs on the same calendar as MLS, so it鈥檚 midseason for Fall, which should make him available as soon as he鈥檚 eligible, and Critchley said he鈥檒l 鈥渢ry to integrate him right away into the group.鈥�

That Fall is left-footed has a specific appeal to the team. While City SC has a bunch of center backs, the only one who is left-footed is Joakim Nilsson, who has missed more time than he has played since joining City SC. Fall will give the team an option on moving the ball up the left side, and while Fall has played center back almost exclusively, he has morphed into a left back and played wide on occasion. That鈥檚 a position City SC has rotated players extensively through in its three years and Critchley indicated could be an option, especially if City SC gets back to full health at center back.

鈥淰ery excited to get a player with such high potential,鈥� said sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel. 鈥淭his is a guy for the future. It鈥檚 an investment for us. This is another U22 signing. I want to maximize out the roster rules and getting there with the two DPs and the four U22s.鈥�

Fall ranks high in analytics when it comes to progressive passing by left-footed backs for players his age, as well as overall, and the team likes the way he can break lines and move the ball up the field. He joined Fredrikstad on a loan from French club Reims in July of 2024, helping the team win the Norwegian Cup, and signed with the club last week. He has played in 12 games for Fredrikstad, which is in eighth place in both league and cup play. Fredrikstad has allowed the fourth-fewest goals in the league and has five shutouts.

Fall jumped from Senegal to France in 2023 (after a brief stop in Serbia), playing mostly with Reims鈥� reserve team but getting one game in France鈥檚 Ligue 1.

Center back has turned into a complicated position for City SC this season, with the team鈥檚 top three choices at that spot 鈥� Henry Kessler, Timo Baumgartl and Nilsson 鈥� all having missed significant time to injuries. Nilsson鈥檚 three seasons in 51黑料 have been overshadowed by a knee injury suffered while playing for the Swedish national team and then a series of other injuries that have limited him to just 34 games over 2 1/2 seasons. The team hopes to have Baumgartl back in the lineup this weekend, but in the absence of those three players, the team has been using youngsters Jake Girdwood-Reich and Michael Wentzel and veteran Josh Yaro.

Injury updates

Good news may have had a slight edge over bad news as practice for City SC resumed Tuesday. Baumgartl is expected to be back on the roster for the game Saturday against Dallas after missing three games with a knee injury, which is good news, while defensive midfielder Chris Durkin will miss his seventh game in a row with a knee injury that isn鈥檛 quite good enough for him to play on yet. That would count as bad news.

Uncertain for the weekend is midfielder Celio Pompeu, who took a hard hit to the shoulder in the Portland game and had to be subbed out. He was seen on the field after the game with his arm in a sling. Critchley said there was no structural damage to Pompeu, but he was in serious pain.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more of a pain tolerance for him,鈥� Critchley said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 pretty banged up. He鈥檚 pretty bruised up, but I鈥檓 optimistic he could get to the weekend for us.鈥�

Eduard Lowen came through his first game fine and is ready for more minutes, but how many that might be is up in the air. He entered in the 66th minute against Portland.