September is fast approaching and the MLS transfer window has officially closed shut. How did the Colorado Rapids fare this summer? With monumental shifts in the team dynamic, the personnel, and with the playoffs looming, this feature of the newsletter is a Rapids transfer roundup special.
Its worth noting that despite the MLS window being shut, the global market continues and there’s always the possibility of some outbounds. There seems to be some loose rumors out there and we won’t know entirely who’s gone until the window closes on Sunday night. I’m thinking though that the business for the Rapids is largely over.
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Before we dive in, I want to shout out Matt Pollard and Mark Goodman over at Burgundy Wave and Holding the High Line for their transfer pieces this summer.
Mark Goodman’s dive into past foreign Rapids transfers is a great reflection for what kind of tone these Pids’ international signings set. As Gattuso puts it:
Burgundy Wave’s transfer tracker is the stuff of dreams. You won’t find a real-time updating piece to follow throughout the window quite like theirs. Not only does the transfer tracker look at the actual signings themselves but so too the various rumors. With the last update coming August 22nd, it’s a great read now even in hindsight given all the business has wrapped up. Here’s hoping that piece has seen it’s last update of the year.
Outbounds
The Djordje Mihailovic departure now feels so weird. Its was akin to a quick and sudden breakup over text and upon returning to your shared living space you notice everything they had was now gone. In the two games after the departure, the Pids were looking like a renewed spirit of a team playing out of a new look 3-4-3 which saw Rafa Navarro playing at his best as a natural pressing forward. When they tried revisiting the 4-2-3-1 in their weekend match against the LA Galaxy, they sure could have used a player like Mihailovic to play in possession. Despite the misuse of Mihailovic the last two seasons, he always had the talent to pull the Rapids into a favorable result. His departure will always be a reminder of the lack of ambition when it comes to the Rapids as a whole. As the rest of the window shows, there is a lot of ambition coming through on the sporting side, but when looking at the rest of the ethos1 of the Colorado Rapids, there’s a lot more to be desired.
An absolute meme of a player, the Kevin Cabral project showed to be mostly negative. Cabral was a player who fans around the league had already come to know as a bust. It was a boneheaded move for the Rapids who upon signing the French winger not only bailed the Galaxy out of having a bad player but also bailed them out of their GAM deficit from sanctions imposed on them for their breaking the roster rules back in 2019. This move helped the Galaxy more than it did the Rapids and that’s even with the fact that they had half his salary covered. Thankfully, we won’t have to see Cabral or sell ourselves again on the small flashes of potential he showed. Starting winger for the All-Time Worst Rapids Starting XI.
I was very high on Chidozie Awaziem. There was a brief point at the start of the season where I believed he could have been the center back of the future. In his first few games in Burgundy, there was a calm presence with the ball at his feet that I hadn’t seen from any other Rapids center back. Then, his play started to deteriorate slowly. Whether it was a bad turnover pass, a misstep or a loss of his man; Awaziem never collapsed in games but his sprinkled mistakes were harder to forgive given his contract. Awaziem became homesick, the Rapids let him go for a very good fee, and his time in Burgundy came to a close.
Kimani Stewart-Baynes was the projected number one draft pick in the 2024 MLS Superdraft. KSB was usurped by Tyrese Spicer for that title but he wouldn’t drop too far after as he was selected with the fourth pick. Since his draft selection, he has amassed a total of 263 First Team minutes and 1,101 minutes at the Next Pro Level. For as “meh” as his footy has been, a massive road block in KSB’s career has hit at a wrong time. Whilst on loan to Lexington, the Canadian winger suffered a season ending ankle injury and the Rapids terminated the loan recalling him in the process. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery and that KSB can hit the ground running upon his return.
If there was ever an odd man out on the depth chart, it was Adam Beaudry at the goalkeeper position who had every chance to become the presumed back up starter until Nico Hansen stepped in and impressed on his first go as the starter amidst Zack Steffen’s absence. Beadury, who still projects well as an MLS-level starter, remains in the Box State but now as the starter for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. Hansen’s emergence opened the door for Beaudry to develop and shore up his ability away from the first team. Next year’s goalkeeping core will be very interesting to see especially if Beaudry comes back with some strong form from his USL play.2
Inbounds
The marquee signing of the window, Paxten Aaronson joins the team via a club record transfer fee of a reported $7 million with an additional $1.5 million in add-ons quickly making use of the funds from the Mihailovic trade. For once, it was a breath of fresh air to not see the Rapids sit on their hands during a summer window. The Aaronson signing does impose it’s own wider questions about the playstyle of the team to close out the season. It’s also a move that needs to come good and soon with the playoffs right around the corner. In a similar way the Columbus Crew flipped Lucas Zelarayan in to Diego Rossi, the Rapids did so with a pair of US Men’s International Team no 10s and, of course, ended up with the higher upside player. It’s a testament to the ambition on the sporting side and a real push to keep whatever window of an MLS Cup path relatively still open.
As much as it annoyed me to see Chido Awaziem depart, the incoming Rob Holding has all the tools to become a classic Rapids center back. With plenty of talent, Premier League experience, and with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, Rob Holding will need to make an immediate impact and find some order in this Rapids backline. Holding playing out of a back three feels like the kind of role he, on paper, should thrive in. However, much of my knowledge of Rob Holding is of him in a back four so it will be interesting to see if the shift there is smooth.3
Noah Cobb may not have the immediate pizzazz of the moves above but what he has shown to be a bright spot throughout the years as a rotational center back for Atlanta. Developing young center backs is the Rapids new MO and having had plenty of good young players at the position in the past4, the team now have one on loan that they can assess for 2026 team prospects. Against the Galaxy this weekend, he had a rather poor outing but I’ll toss blame on the formation change for that one. In a 3-4-3, I don’t particularly mind seeing him in there getting some minutes. Of the more recent domestic intra-league loans, I’m a big fan and wouldn’t mind seeing the team take the purchase option.
I really wish I could hype up Lucas Herrington the way I did Noah Cobb but I just don’t know enough of the player to know one way or the other and this signing has always felt like a Rapids 2 adjacent signing5. I think pre-Rob Holding I could have seen him as a reserve player on the main team but with the new set of center backs in it does feel like he’s the odd man out. I will defer to Judgemental Jim for his A-League analysis. I know he and a lot of other parties, including other European teams, are very high on him. As I say about any youth signing: TBD.
In 2023, Rafael Santos was an electric full back for Orlando featuring tidy defending and great passing ability. Orlando experimented with a 3-back system variously throughout 2024 and found Santos lacking as a LWB often opting for Ivan Angulo, their starting left winger, to play more defensively and fill in. Fast forward to 2025 and Santos is completely phased out of the Orlando squad and traded to Colorado. I do think a scenery change was needed but more than anything his inclusion brings a lot of questions. While I wouldn’t like him as a potential left wing back starter, him playing as a more stay-at-home left back in a back four makes much more sense if the Rapids were to keep playing with a four back. I’m all for more depth however. Even if I’m a little tepid about the style and role fit.
For a brief moment in the midst of the transfer window, it sure seemed Alexis Manyoma was to be the only bit of business in the window. And then everything came to a head throughout Leagues Cup and the subsequent Djordje-exit. Rumors of him signing started circulating early but was buried by the time dust had settled. He is almost stateside and may not be an immediate starter this upcoming weekend, but I can’t help but be a big fan of the player and his tape. In the small amount of research I’ve down in analyzing his YouTube highlights, he looks to be an aggressive wide winger who more than anything presses. His final third entry is smooth and efficient but some decision making errors did show themselves a bit. If anything, he’s got that Red Bull energy style of profile that I’m sure Chris Armas will love. I’m excited for the style fit, but unsure of his talent and floor as the immediate starter. Is he the goal-getting winger a la Michael Barrios or is he more of a off ball pest like one Teddy Ku-DiPietro? Time will tell but I am very intrigued to see this guy on the pitch.
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And that’s the newsletter this week. More of an article than anything else. I had a big week of soccer news I missed last week. I just didn’t find time in my schedule to plan one out. However, plenty of audio content still throughout the channels as well.
Thanks for reading and we’ll be back next week with a more normal newsletter. Cheers.
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Stadium, scoreboard, lack of relevance in the Denver area, no All-Stars, no playoff wins, ↩
Beaudry started off strong with the Switchbacks getting two clean sheets in hist first two starts but since then he’s conceded seven goals across five games. ↩
If the Rapids do choose to play out of the 3-4-3 which saw them win two games post-Djorjde. ↩
Em, not Gustavo Vallecilla though… ↩
Rapids 2 adjacent as in a move in which he will split time between the two. ↩
