Cole Bassett has been linked previously with a move to Europe and the Colorado Rapids homegrown will reportedly be on his way there in the coming days.
Dutch Eredivisie side Feyenoord will reportedly acquire Bassett on a one-and-a-half year loan deal from the Rapids, Voetbal International reported Friday. The agreement will also come with an option to buy.
The 20-year-old has played exclusively with the Rapids in each of the last three MLS seasons. Bassett debuted for the first team in 2018 and since has totaled 74 combined league appearances, scoring 13 goals and registering 11 assists.
Bassett has scored five goals in each of the last two seasons for the Rapids, helping Robin Fraser’s side claim the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs. The midfielder made his international debut with the U.S. men’s national team in December, scoring the winning goal in a 1-0 friendly victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Should he make the move to the Netherlands, Bassett would join Richie Ledezma, Luca De La Torre, and Dante Sealy in the growing American contingent.
Feyenoord sits in fifth place in the Eredivisie table with 15 points earned through seven matches played. The top flight side resumes its league schedule on Saturday against Vitesse Arnhem.
I love this move. I have long wished more of our creative attacking players would take a stop in the Netherlands on the way to top 5 leagues.
Feyernood once won the European Cup, beating Inter in 1970. They have a rich history, winning the Eredivisie 15 times and the KNVB Cup 13 times. Also, they have two UEFA Cups and one Intercontinental Cup. They have a richer history than say AZ (where Jozy and AJ both starred) and are probably right behind Ajax and PSV in terms of global awareness. That said, it’s meaningless unless Bassett gets playing time. There are worse leagues than the Eredivisie. It’s very offensive-minded. Michael Bradley once scored 15 goals in a single season. So this could be a very good move, a stepping stone to playing in a bigger league.
It would take a lot for Bassett to make the squad for Qatar. I haven’t seen enough of him to to really rate him. My sense is he’s on the fringe , somewhere in the next 23 players. Twenty-twenty six is more realistic for him. If he gets a transfer to a top five league, the chances are good.
I just like that he’s in the mix now.
Some of these guys will come good, some will not. Some will return to MLS in 3-4 years max after banging around in Europe, and show they were always merely decent professionals and not true Internationals capable of hanging and banging in a Top-5 league.
But some of ’em are going to make it. And that’s how you build your pool.