I'll keep beating the dead horse. Abubakar is Roman Torres-esque without the proclivity to have one costly brain fart a game. He plays with an energy and "ball hawking" that at first glance you have this "oh shit turn it down a bit, dude" mentality about him. You kinda think it's gonna be a train wreck. Then you see his solid positioning, willingness to get "stuck-in", command, and how well he reads the game and realize he doesn't play with the reckless abandonment that you thought. Abubakar is very much in control. Instant upgrade at the CB position. I knew he could slot in and provide some stability. Let's face it..... NYCFC is dumb. They had an asset in Lewis and let go. Yeah, they got received good "MLS value" for him but his foreign value is rising. It's been on the rise. Lewis was dynamic when given the opportunities by NYCFC but for whatever reason Torrent never really trusted him. I don't know why. His play was compatible with Torrent's system. Classic winger with all the tools to succeed. I love his play. Agreed, that he might be the most exciting Rapids player in a long, long, long time. He will be missed........ I suspect Lewis will be on the final 23 for the Gold Cup. Speaking of USMNT....... Abubakar and Lewis both have been influence by Berhalter. Abubakar was given a chance in Columbus and flourished before being second choice this season. Lewis was given a shot by berhalter and hasn't looked back. Coincidence?
Absolutely and it came ahead of when Pádraig thought it would. He discussed the acquisition on an Endline Podcast a few weeks ago. IIRC, he stated that they were thinking the deal would happen in December of this year, but Lewis asked out and two other teams had also been expressing interest. Because the Rapids had been working with NYCFC already on a deal NYCFC gave Pádraig a heads up and the chance to acquire Lewis. According to Pádraig a big part of this is the relationships his developed with other GMs. Concerning Abubakar, he's made an enormous difference as many have stated. He's proactive which is something that was sorely needed. His value may well go up, but I hope Pádraig is already working a deal with the Crew for a permanent deal.
The other thing that factored into the Abubakar move is Ford's injury I think. My bet is that they didn't expect him to be out as long as he has, so they didn't make a move for cover in the offseason. As his injury continued to stretch on, and as the backups we had were clearly shown not to be up to the task, they were forced into finding a solution.