David Accam MLS Philadelphia Union 03252019Philadelphia Union

Columbus Crew coach Porter believes Accam will mesh with Mensah and Afful

Columbus Crew head coach Caleb Porter has shed light on their decision to sign Ghana international David Accam.

The winger became a member of the Crew family on Wednesday, joining from fellow Major League Soccer side Philadelphia Union.

He made eight league appearances in this campaign's championship and scored four times for Philadelphia before moving on.

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"I like in my system to have one winger that’s a pocket guy and one winger that’s more of a penetrating 1-V-1 game-changing winger, more of a true winger," Porter explained, as reported by his club's official website.

"For me that balances [things up] and [that's] how I like to shape my teams up. Play narrow on one side and play wide on one side and threaten.

"He brings that type of guy. He’s shown he can score goals and get assists, he’s electric 1V1, he’s very clever, he’s creative, he’s got a lot of 'juice' as I call it, he brings a little bit of that different type of threat than what we had."

Accam joined Union in February last year but ended what turned out to be an injury-plagued first season with disappointment as he scored just once in 23 matches.

"It’s nice to have options on the wings and have different types of guys, he’s definitely a different type of guy than what we’ve had. I’ve watched him quite a bit when I was at Portland, tried to get him and was happy to have him," Porter added.

"I think he’ll mesh in really well with [compatriots] Jonah [Jonathan Mensah] and Harry [Afful]. They know each other well, so that little bit of chemistry there I think will help."

It is Accam's fifth season in Major League Soccer. In his first three campaigns - which he spent with Chicago Fire - the winger scored 33 league goals and registered 15 assists.

Aside from finishing his first two seasons as his club’s top scorer, he was also successively adjudged the Men in Red’s Most Valuable Player.

He joined the MLS from Swedish side Helsingborgs in 2015. The 28-year-old Ghana international has an admittedly slim chance of being selected for this year's Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt where the Black Stars have been drawn against Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-Bissau in Group F.
 

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