The Colorado Rapids managed to get one move over the line ahead of the primary transfer window, which closed late Monday night.
Danny Leyva, a 19-year-old midfielder for the Seattle Sounders, will join Colorado on loan through the remainder of the 2023 season, the club announced Tuesday.
Leyva will provide extra cover as a ball-playing defensive midfielder in a role not dissimilar to Jack Price’s. As part of the trade, Colorado sent $92,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) and its third-round pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. Now that the window is shut, Colorado will not be able to make anymore moves until the secondary transfer window opens July 5.
“It was important for us to reinforce our midfield with a player of Danny’s quality as the schedule begins to get congested over the coming months,” Colorado Rapids team president Pádraig Smith said in a statement. “Danny’s an intelligent and highly technical player who has already logged significant MLS minutes at his young age. We look forward to welcoming him to Colorado and seeing him contribute to the team.”
While the loan is only season-long and does not immediately provide an option to purchase (Leyva signed a five-year contract in the offseason), that possibility isn’t entirely out of the picture. One example of a player fitting in on loan who was later purchased is defender Lalas Abubakar, who arrived in 2019 from Columbus Crew and was acquired permanently ahead of the 2020 season.
Levya was the youngest Homegrown Player signing in Seattle history, signing with the Pacific Northwest club in 2019 as a 15-year-old. He played in 54 matches for the Sounders (25 starts) and recorded a pair of assists. He is a U.S. Youth National Team product having played at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2019.
He arrived in Commerce City Monday night and is eligible for the team’s third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC.
It is the second loan involving the Rapids this season after the team loaned out defender Gustavo Vallecilla to the Columbus Crew at the start of March.
Rapids 2’s Vargas called in short-term loan
The Rapids will likely be without another central midfielder in Wednesday’s “Platte River Derby” against Hailstorm, as Bryan Acosta had to be subbed off due to injury in Saturday’s 1-1 tie against St. Louis City SC.
Colorado took action late Tuesday by calling up midfielder Marlon Vargas from Rapids 2 on a short-term agreement, up to a four-day contract. He joined the organization in January after having a breakout season with the Sounders’ second-team, Tacoma Defiance, in which he tallied 13 goals and six assists. This season for R2, he started four of five games with one assist.
The Cup match for Colorado will be a good test for many players in search of minutes and a chance to put the past behind them. Kickoff against Hailstorm is at 7 p.m. MST at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, and will be available to stream on the Rapids’ website.
The last time Colorado won an Open Cup match was in 2017. Northern Colorado is looking to remain the tournament darlings after Hailstorm pulled off a pair of “cupsets” in its inaugural run last year, including a third-round shocker over Real Salt Lake. Earlier this month Northern Colorado defeated fellow in-state rivals Colorado Springs Switchbacks 3-1 after extra time in the second round.
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