On Wednesday, the Fire officially announced the transfer of the All-Star defender to Boulogne of the French Ligue 1, where his transfer fee is reportedly $2.15 million."We would like to thank Bakary Soumare for his contributions to this club and wish him the best in his future playing career," Fire technical director Frank Klopas said in a release.
For weeks, it appeared that Soumare's tenure with the Fire was coming to a close, especially following an Aug. 9 halftime altercation with head coach Denis Hamlett during a match against the Houston Dynamo. He had not played on the field ever since that physical incident.
Soumare played and started in 16 games this year, posting 1,364 minutes and assisting a goal. He was drafted by the Fire with the second overall pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.
The Fire's defense as a whole has been trudging through some tough times, with injuries to C.J. Brown, Wilman Conde, Gonzalo Segares, Tim Ward and Daniel Woolard. Segares (MCL sprain), Ward (metatarsal fracture) and Woolard (ankle sprain) are currently listed as out on the MLS injury report. Conde's hamstring injury has caused some missed games here and there. And Brown took a couple of hard hits during the Fire's most recent 3-2 victory against the Colorado Rapids.
The Fire host D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Toyota Park (televised on Fox Soccer Channel). Following that match will be a welcome two-week layoff with the hopes that they will have a much healthier squad for the final six regular-season matches and potential playoffs.
it's not reported that he will earn 2.15 million...it's reported that the 2.15 million is the transfer fee the Fire recieve in compensation for letting him go
ReplyDeleteSam, thanks for pinpointing the error. The post is corrected.
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