MLS Moves: Quakes add bulk up front by signing Goitom
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Aug 11, 2016
San Jose’s sputtering attack has been bolstered by the signing of forward Henok Goitom, who comes to MLS after playing for more than a decade in Spain and Sweden.
Goitom, 31, has scored 78 goals in 268 club matches. He has been signed as a Discovery Player using Targeted Allocation Money, funds by which teams can pay down a player’s salary-budget charge so it fits under the Designated-Player maximum of $457,500. Terms and duration of his contract were not released.
“Henok is a proven goal scorer that will add punch to our offense,” said Quakes general manager John Doyle. “We think he will be a great fit for the club both on the field and in the locker room.”
Only two teams have scored fewer than the 23 goals registered by San Jose in 22 games. Captain Chris Wondolowski leads the team with nine goals and nobody else has more than three.
Goitom (6-foot-2, 170 pounds) can be signed outside the domestic transfer window that closed last week because he out of contract. A short-term deal with Spanish club Getafe expired at the end of June. He’d left another Spanish club, Almeria, four years ago to play in Sweden with AIK Solna, his hometown team for which he scored 53 goals and 24 assists in 114 matches. He was named MVP of the Swedish league in 2015.
He started his pro career in 2003 by playing one game and scoring one goal for Italian Serie A club Udinese, which eventually sent him out on loan to Cuidad Murcia of the Spanish second division. After scoring 23 goals in 75 games during two seasons, he moved up to La Liga with Real Murcia, for which he scored two goals in 33 appearances.
In 109 La Liga matches he scored 14 goals during stints with UD Almeria, Real Murcia, Real Valladolid, and Getafe.
After representing Sweden at the U-21 level, he applied to FIFA to switch his playing allegiance to Eritrea, the native country of his parents. His request was approved last year and he has played twice for the national team, scoring one goal.
