Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy has a message for anybody expecting new Designated Player Diego Rossi to be a like-for-like replacement for recently-departed club legend Lucas Zelarayán: you’re barking up the wrong tree.
“So he’s gonna come, he’s gonna do his job. He knows he has to compete. He has his own quality.”
What exactly are the qualities that motivated Columbus to acquire the 25-year-old Uruguayan international from Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe just days after transferring Zelarayán to Al Fateh of the Saudi Pro League?
“We need to put more doubt in the opposition, and to put more doubt in the opposition is also to make the run in behind. And Diego is here also for that because this is natural for him, to make these kinds of runs from behind,” Nancy stated.
“That’s why we decided to get him. It’s another tool for us.”
In terms of Rossi's exact positioning on the field, Nancy suggested the possibility of experimenting with his newest offensive weapon.
"He was playing all kinds of positions when he was with Fenerbahçe, for us he can also play different positions," said the Frenchman.
Out with Zelarayán, in with Rossi
Zelarayán, who led the club to MLS Cup (2020) and Campeones Cup (2021) glory during his three-and-a-half-year stay, was also the main offensive threat this season for Columbus, who boast a league-best 45 goals in 2023. Ten of those came from the Argentine-born Armenian international, who also contributed seven assists over 20 starts.
Those are massive shoes to fill, but Rossi also knows a thing or two about scoring goals in Major League Soccer – having recorded 48 goals and 21 assists in 104 regular-season appearances during a star-making stint with LAFC from 2018-21. Ultimately, these performances opened the door for a move to the Turkish top flight, where he proceeded to add 10g/20a in 90 games across all competitions for one of the country’s biggest clubs.
Now, Rossi is back in MLS and ready to write his own history in Columbus.
“I’m gonna try to do my job to help the team in the way that they need me,” the Uruguayan said, fully aware that he’s expected to provide goals alongside new attacking partners Cucho Hernández (5g/10a) and Christian Ramírez (8g/3a) – the latter a former teammate at LAFC.
“So yeah, it’s also one of my jobs to try to score.”
Columbus, who also brought in Rudy Camacho and Julian Gressel during the Secondary Transfer Window, are taking on none other than “Hell is Real” rivals Cincinnati in their first league game in over a month.
For Rossi, who looks set to see at least some minutes of action on Sunday (7:30 pm ET | Apple TV - Free, FS1), his debut couldn’t come on a better occasion.
“These are the games you want to play,” he said.
