While not officially announced by the Timbers FO (they've been busy today) I'm ready to call this rumor as being anythng but at this point. First we had the AP report on Cooper's leaving from 1860 Munich this morning. Now 1860 Munich's own website is reporting that the player is heading to Portland as we speak.
At this point all I can say is: welcome to Portland Cooper!
Seriously, prior to today we had Eddie Johnson and Bright Dike, two solid USL strikers who were leaving many of us a bit worried at how our forward positions would end up. While both Dike and Johnson were great in D2 soccer, would they hold up as well in MLS? Nobody was really sure and that's where the problem was.
Now that we officially have Kenny Cooper up top, and we were able to snag Darlington Nagbe through the SuperDraft, our attacking prospects are looking really good.
For those of you unfamiliar with Cooper, he was a fantastic striker for FC Dallas while we has here notching, at one point, 18 goals for the team in a single season. Those are league leading numbers that could still win a Golden Boot today. Beyond even that, however, I feel like Cooper's international experience as well as his time spent overseas could help Dike, Nagbe, and Johnson become better forwards.
I'll have a piece later today or tomorrow on our attacking prospects post-SuperDraft, but, needless to say, I'm feeling pretty good right now.