Why FC Cincinnati's Aaron Boupendza is an addition to the 2023 team, not a replacement
The courting process for FC Cincinnati's newly-acquired Gabonese striker, Aaron Boupendza, was a poster for modern player recruitment.
The recruitment process was also a sign of the times for FC Cincinnati because in making the big-money acquisition, the club made clear its intentions of going all-in on pursuing trophies this season.
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Boupendza, 26, was formally introduced to local media members on Monday at FC Cincinnati's Mercy Health Training Center in Milford, more than a month after his acquisition by the club was confirmed. Boupendza's arrival was delayed until this past weekend by complications obtaining government work permits.
Monday marked Boupendza's first full training session after working out Sunday, and he is now considered by head coach Pat Noonan a "day-to-day" option for FC Cincinnati's two matches this week.
"He's been a players that's been on our radar for a few years now from when he was playing in Turkey to then Qatar, Saudi Arabia," FC Cincinnati General Manager Chris Albright said. "(Technical Director) Hunter Freeman went and saw him play live (and) met with him. A big part of the process since we've taken over (at FCC) is really vetting the character of the player, and I think the players that we've consistently brought in have a high character and are good teammates, so that's something we wanted to figure out very early on. That box was checked after Hunter's meeting."
There's no rush to get Boupendza on the field. FC Cincinnati would prefer to debut the player when the moment is right, and that might or might not be this week. There will be plenty of time to realize the potential of Boupendza, who was 2020-21 Turkish Super Lig's top scorer (22 goals) and is signed at FC Cincinnati through the 2025 season with two option years to follow.
Like all FC Cincinnati signings under Albright, the process was driven by data and analytics. The numbers on Boupendza pointed to him being a talented goal-scorer, but also one who would operate well within FC Cincinnati's system, Albright said.
Another modern aspect of the signing was that FCC was negotiating the transfer to acquire Boupendza with Al-Shabab FC of the Saudi Professional League. The Middle East is on the rise in the soccer world following the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, along an influx of globally-recognized soccer stars to the region via large, sometimes outlandish, acquisition fees.
"Haven't dealt with the Middle East too much, so that was a bit tricky," Albright said.
And what would a cutting-edge recruitment pitch be without some salesmanship via social media? Boupendza revealed during his remarks on Monday that he conversed with FC Cincinnati defensive midfielder Obinna Nwobodo, who spoke highly of Major League Soccer.
Bounpendza said he also received counseling on MLS from Los Angeles FC star, Denis Bouanga.
"This league is very hard," Boupendza said. "For me, it's more motivation for me and for my career, so I'm comfortable with Cincinnati and comfortable with MLS."
In what's perhaps the most modern and telling aspect of bringing Boupendza on, FC Cincinnati opted to pursue a full-fledged designated-player − the high-talent players in MLS that carry the biggest salaries and salary-cap hits − rather than filling using other MLS roster mechanism where the league incentivizes spending, such as the "young designated player" roster spots.
FC Cincinnati, which boasts an MLS-leading record at 13-2-6, did this because it's legitimately contending for championships right now, Albright indicated.
"We, perhaps, pivoted a little bit more on how we were scouting and what we were going to add to the group based on the position that we're in," Albright said. "We could have added a (young designated player) but we thought someone with a little bit more of a proven record gave our team, our fans, a chance to maybe take a shot at something a little bit sooner than maybe we thought we could.
"All of the sudden, where we sit today, we can't deny that we have a couple opportunities out in front of us, so, yeah, it definitely affected how addressed this."
An addition, not a replacement
On paper, it certainly seems like the resources previously deployed to Brenner Souza da Silva, who departed FC Cincinnati this summer, have been redirected to Boupendza. And maybe Boupendza is something of a replacement in that sense.
But Albright's view of Boupendza is that the player additive and not replacing anyone. That assessment is based solely on the production FC Cincinnati has received to this point from the striker position, or the lack of production.
The club lacked consistent end product from Brenner, who scored one goal in eight appearances in 2023. But the lack of production became an issue that extended beyond Brenner to other players at the position.
Brandon Vazquez, Sergio Santos and Dominique Badji have scored four goals apiece this season, which is a wider distribution of goals than anticipated after Vazquez alone scored 19 in competitive matches last year.
In 2022, Vazquez and Brenner formed the most lethal strike tandem in MLS, combining for 36 regular-season goals. This year's team isn't close to touching that kind of production.
FC Cincinnati has sustained itself in the aggregate. Defenders have contributed six goals. Defensive midfielders have combined for four more, and Luciano Acosta (10 goals) will mark a new career-high in scoring with his next tally. So, even without production from the striker position, FC Cincinnati's 35 goals are the sixth-most in MLS.
But if Boupendza can increase the productivity at the striker position, FCC's attack should become more dependable.
That could be more than the rest of MLS is ready to cope with this year.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Aaron Boupendza fits in with FC Cincinnati in MLS
