NASHVILLE, TN - Nashville SC announced that they had acquired winger David Accam from Columbus Crew SC on Thursday afternoon. Nashville sent $350,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) and $100,000 in Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) to Columbus in return for Accam. The 28 year old Ghanaian international will spend the rest of the 2019 season with the Crew before the transfer becomes effective on January 1, 2020. Accam has a green card, which qualifies him as a domestic player according to MLS roster rules.
“The 2019 season is a one-year runway for us to prepare for the 2020 MLS season, and our staff has been really thoughtful about how our roster will be constructed,” said Nashville SC GM Mike Jacobs. “The idea of adding players is not necessarily about simply finding “good players”, but rather about finding “players that are good for Nashville.” The scouting and recruitment of prospects has been really diligent, and our staff have been very strategic about identifying players that we believe will enable us to pursue excellence.”
Columbus just acquired Accam from Philadelphia Union on May 8th, spending $400,000 in GAM, $100,000 in TAM and an international roster spot for the player. However, it appears that the plan was always to have Accam in Columbus on a temporary basis.
Accam is a four year MLS veteran, who has spent time with the Chicago Fire, Philadelphia Union, and Columbus Crew since coming to the league ahead of the 2015 season. His most successful stint came in Chicago, where he scored 33 goals and had 15 assists in 78 appearances. Since moving to the Union in 2018, he’s slowed down a bit, scoring just five goals in 31 appearances. In 2019, however, he’s returned to form. In nine appearances this season, he’s scored four and assisted four with an xG of 2.2 and an xA of 0.5.
Accam commanded a $1.25 million salary in Philadelphia last year, and will most likely have to be bought down with TAM to keep him from occupying a Designated Player spot. The $450k in allocation money Nashville spent isn’t unheard of, but is towards the higher end of intra-league transfers in this window. The fee is the same as what Chicago Fire spent to get CJ Sapong from the Union ($450k in total allocation money), and slightly more than Fransisco Calvao’s transfer from Minnesota to Chicago ($425k in total allocation money).
Accam is primarily a left winger, but can play centrally as a second striker. He’s an incredibly fast player, with a low center of gravity and intelligent movement in the final third. He is able to keep his head up while on the ball, allowing him to find teammates in space and create chances. While his form took a dip after joining Philadelphia, he’s been productive this season, and will spend the rest of the 2019 season in a Columbus system that emphasizes directness from wide players under Caleb Porter
“David is a very exciting player,” said Smith. “He has exceptionally good pace, he’s shown throughout his career that he’s a good creator, able to get himself on the score sheet and be a difference-maker in front of goal. He is an incredibly exciting player for the club to have landed.”
