On the day that Eastern Conference rivals Toronto FC announced the double signing of USA international Michael Bradley and England international Jermain Defoe, the New England Revolution announced that they had signed forward Charlie Davies on a free transfer from Denmark’s Randers FC.
Davies spent the second half of the 2013 season on loan with the Revs from the Danish club, making four league appearances as a substitute.
“We’re pleased that Charlie will be re-joining us and that we were able to find a way to make it work with MLS and Randers,” New England general manager Mike Burns said in a statement. “Charlie came in last summer and showed us a lot of good things, and we’re looking forward to seeing him integrated into the squad more in 2014.”
This is turning into a difficult offseason for New England fans. The Revs were one of the biggest surprises in MLS last season, as they finished third in the east. But instead of building on last seasons success, New England appears to have gone backwards this offseason losing goalkeeper Matt Reis and striker Juan Agudelo.
New England brought in Luis Soffner to replace Reis in what is a step backwards while Davies has shown nothing to indicate that he can be a replacement for Agudelo.
And while the Revs are getting weaker, TFC has made great strides this month with the signings of Bradley, Defoe and also the Brazilian striker Gilberto.
MLS teams are traditionally strong defensively and the difference between the average MLS and the really good MLS side is their ability to put the ball in the back of the net. With Defoe, TFC has the premier goalscorer in MLS, and on paper Gilberto looks like he brings similar class and clinical finishing to Toronto.
So a really good week for TFC fans, and a week of disappointment in New England, where the early indications are that the Revs will struggle to make the playoffs this season.
