New England Revolution
The 24-year-old Nigerian comes to New England with international and Champions League experience.
Alhassan Yusuf celebrates after scoring a goal for Royal Antwerp FC in the Champions League in October 2023. Image provided by New England Revolution via Vincent Kalut
The Revolution officially announced on Monday the signing of midfielder Alhassan Yusuf from Belgian club Royal Antwerp FC, adding another interesting player to New England’s midfield.
Yusuf, 24, will join the Revolution provided he receives his international transfer certificate for the P-1 visa. He will fill one of the spots on the team’s international roster and is under contract through the 2027 MLS season (with a club option for 2028). The transfer fee is reportedly between $2 million and $3 million.
Here are some things you should know about the newest member of the revolution:
New England made the signing possible using a special salary mechanism.
As with everything involving MLS, the Revolution’s signing of Yusuf involves a somewhat byzantine roster rules system. The league has specific parameters regarding its salary cap as well as the number of international players allowed.
In Yusuf’s case, New England signed him through the “season-ending injury replacement mechanism.” This specifically refers to Revolution winger Tomás Chancalay, who was ruled out for the rest of the season in June due to a torn right cruciate ligament.
MLS allows clubs to sign one replacement player annually under the injured player mechanism, provided the player is formally named before the second transfer window opens in July.
After losing Chancalay, New England was able to sign Yusuf mid-season thanks to the injured player mechanism.
He comes to New England after playing at a high level.
Yusuf joins New England after three years playing for Antwerp, winning multiple trophies and top-level competitions in the UEFA Champions League.
In addition to helping his team win the Premier League, Belgian Cup and Belgian Super Cup, Yusuf was also instrumental in the team qualifying for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time.
And in his first ever Champions League appearance, Yusuf scored a quality goal against Porto (an Antwerp lost the game 4-1), and later provided an assist against Barcelona.
Before Antwerp, Yusuf played for Swedish Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg between 2018 and 2021, where he was voted the league’s Newcomer of the Year in 2019.
He has international experience for Nigeria.
In addition to his contributions at club level, Yusuf, who hails from Kano, Nigeria, has also played for his country.
He made his debut for Nigeria in a 1-1 draw at the team’s opening Africa Cup of Nations tournament in January, and was somewhat surprisingly included in the starting line-up due to Wilfred Ndidi’s injury.
Despite being substituted due to injury in the 69th minute of the 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea, Yusuf eventually returned to the active squad for the knockout phase of the tournament.
In total, he made two more appearances as a substitute on Nigeria’s journey to the finals. He has played seven international matches and has also played in his team’s World Cup qualifiers since the Africa Cup of Nations.
His playing style should fit well with the revolution.
Given Revolution head coach Caleb Porter’s general preference for a 4-2-3-1 system – with a “double pivot” of two central midfielders – Yusuf’s natural versatility should mesh well with his new teammates.
In particular, he is expected to be a bit more tenacious on defense than some of Porter’s current options at the position.
“Yusuf is an athletic, box-to-box midfielder who has all the qualities we look for in our double sixes,” Porter said in the club statement. “He is very complete on both sides of the ball and will add defensive ball-winning and verticality to our attack.”
For Porter, it’s another new signing, as New England signed 22-year-old Argentine forward Luca Langoni earlier in the transfer window. Yusuf is, according to Porter, “another new signing who is at the peak of his career and has championship experience.”
The Revolution could use some of that championship experience, as the club currently sits in last place in the Eastern Conference. Still, New England (7-2-14) is just five points out of the final playoff spot. The Revolution has two games left in hand and next plays Montreal on August 24 when the regular season resumes following the conclusion of the Leagues Cup.
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