Portland Timbers keeper Adam Kwarasey has been sold to Norwegian club Rosenborg BK.
After being seen as the clubs starting keeper for over a season, it appears the reigning MLS champions have decided to cash in on Adam Kwarasey, after a report from oregonlive.com writer Jamie Goldberg says the club sold him to Rosenborg BK.
Kwarasey joined the Timbers at the start of the 2015 season, after his contract with another Norwegian club, Stromgodset, was up. The Oslo, Norway native made 40 appearances for the Timbers, compiling a goals against average of 1.29 and a 79.5 save percentage in MLS play.
Before the season started, the Norwegian Kwarasey was coming off a stellar season for the Timbers, winning the Save of the Year Award in 2015 after denying Real Salt Lake’s Luke Mulholland in the 31st minute in their August 15th encounter.
Kwarasey would play seven games this season for Portland, before injuring his finger in a match against the San Jose Earthquakes on April 16th. Since then, Australian international Jake Gleeson has manned the nets for the Timbers, and has been on fire. Gleeson has the second most saves (70) in MLS play and has a 6-3-6 record, with three shutouts.
Portland Timbers owner and CEO Merritt Paulson took to twitter to say that Kwarasey has done nothing but good things while with the Timbers and their title run last season.
Paulson later mentioned that with the money they have with Kwarasey gone, they can focus on areas they really need help in. Also, it wasnt fair to have Kwarasey on the bench with Gleeson showing why he should be the starting goalie in Portland.
The Timbers sit just above the red line in the West, with a 7-6-8 record, after stumbling out of the gates with a 2-2-3 record. Now, the Timbers are riding an undefeated streak of nine games, with five draws and four wins.
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Hopefully now Kwarasey can get more minutes with a top team in Norway, and the Timbers can climb the West standings and get back into the playoff picture.
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