Tom Sweezy - MLS Aces
·20 May 2024
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Yahoo sportsTom Sweezy - MLS Aces
·20 May 2024
Another Designated Player has come and gone from Charlotte FC. Charlotte FC have sold 28 year old Argentine striker Enzo Copetti to Rosario Central in his home country. Ahead of the 2023 MLS season, Charlotte signed Copetti as a Designated Player striker along with other “DP” attackers on their roster, Karol Swiderski and Kamil Jozwiak. This past off-season, Charlotte moved on from two of those three DPs; selling Jozwiak to La Liga side Granada CF and loaning Swiderski to Serie A Hellas Verona. Charlotte seemed to go all in on Copetti as he was the only remaining DP that was kept by brand new manager Dean Smith. Copetti was signed with the intention of him being a high level striker in this league. He is a former cup champion down in Argentina where he had scored 37 goals and 10 assists across 11,000 minutes played in his home country. He had a resume for success coming to MLS that never truly panned out.
Copetti did deal with some minor injuries this season, but he has been able to play in 9 games (roughly 500 minutes) scoring once and assisting once. Copetti has been outplayed by 23 year old striker Patrick Agyemang who has 3 goals across roughly 750 minutes this season. With Copetti gone, there is now another Designated Player spot open to try to pair along with newly signed DP this season, Liel Abada. There is also the opportunity for the young Agyemang to prove he is ready to be the full time starter of this Charlotte FC squad. Personally, I think he could be and has the ability to be a 10-15 goal scorer in Major League Soccer. I want to see Charlotte fill this open spot this summer with an attacking midfielder. One that can be a high level transition player in that midfield. Someone who can produce a ton of creative movement from the lower block of the midfield up to the likes of Abada, Agyemang, and Kerwin Vargas.
This move truly feels like the beginning of the Dean Smith era to me. The opportunity for him to have complete control over the roster construction of this group and play his type of soccer. Liel Abada was his first DP signing, now let’s see what the former Premier League manager can pull off this summer. We’ve already seen rumors and connections of Marco Reus connected to this club. This is an exciting time for Charlotte FC fans as this might just be their best form heading into the summer in club history. Now, it’s time for Charlotte fans to see a second new high level player added to this roster.