{"id":12969,"date":"2018-03-13T16:06:06","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T20:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonsoccer.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=12969"},"modified":"2018-03-13T16:35:13","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T20:35:13","slug":"rumor-yannick-boli-colorado-rapids-tam-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2018\/03\/13\/rumor-yannick-boli-colorado-rapids-tam-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"RUMOR: Yannick Boli Could be the Mentioned Colorado Rapids TAM Forward Signing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Report (March 13, 2018)<\/strong> – There have been rumblings that the Colorado Rapids<\/a> have been close to singing another forward using Targeted Allocation Money. While it is still unclear, it’s possible that player is Ivorian striker\u00a0Yannick Boli<\/a>, who currently plays with Dalian Yifang in the Chinese second division. All indications are that Boli would take up an International Roster Spot in 2018.<\/p>\n

RUMOR: Ivory International Yannick Boli Could be the TAM Forwards Signing Colorado Rapids Have Alluded To<\/h1>\n

The Rapids have been rumored to be adding striker help for over a week. Head Coach Anthony Hudson mentioned it last week on the Rapids Podcast<\/a>. Color Commentator and Rapids Legend Marcelo Balboa alluded to it as well on the broadcast over the weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Rumor:<\/h3>\n

I’m not one to take random foreign Twitter accounts<\/a> seriously, but this beat has been surprisingly quiet until recently<\/a>, especially compared to other Colorado Rapids rumors this off-season that eventually came true. The full tweet<\/a>, when translated from Swedish to English reads:<\/p>\n

“Apparently, Colorado Rapids are near a TAM-solicitation by Ivorianen Yannick Boli. Striker with past in PSG, Russian league and now latest Chinese league.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, I say take this with a grain of salt. Google Translate is imperfect, the account isn’t verified, and its country of origin is neither that of the player, his club team, nor any previous club. That aside, let’s run with this and see what kind of a player Boli is.<\/p>\n

What Boli could bring to the Rapids:<\/h3>\n

The Ivorian International (his first and only cap came last year) is originally from France. He was a part of the Paris Saint-Germain academy system and turned professional with the reserve team in 2005. The 30-year-old never really caught on with the Ligue 1 superpower and bounced around several other French clubs before several other not-so-significant European clubs.<\/p>\n

Most recently, he’s been playing in the Chinese League One for Dalian Yifang.<\/p>\n

From looking at YouTube highlights<\/a> (take them with a grain of salt), he looks to be a channel running No. 9. He scores lots of goals be splitting the center backs and running onto balls, not unlike Dominique Badji<\/a> or several forwards Hudson used while with New Zealand. He also gets on the end of build up play in the box and he’s dangerous on set pieces.<\/p>\n

For an MLS comparison, he seems to be a hybrid between Badji and Kei Kamara. His style of play could fit Hudson’s system well<\/a>. He and Badji could trade off making runs, and he’d provide a nice foil to Joe Mason<\/a>, who doesn’t like to be as close to goal and poaches a bit more.<\/p>\n

If he’s worth his value, Yannick Boli could be the TAM-level forward the Rapids desperately need.<\/p>\n

It is club policy that the Colorado Rapids do not comment on players not officially under contract with the club.<\/em><\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>