New Whitecaps signings Adekugbe, Laryea shift focus to MLS playoff push
The Vancouver Whitecaps unveiled their two, new high-profile signings on Wednesday, with the message from each clear: the intention is to win and achieve this beginning quickly.
Canadian nationwide group wingbacks Sam Adekugbe and Richie Laryea spoke to the media in an introductory press convention for the primary time since signing with Vancouver final week.
“Football is about winning games. It’s not about enjoying it and being comfortable. If we don’t have that expectation for ourselves, then we’re wasting our time,” mentioned Adekugbe.
His new home teammate, and shut buddy, agreed.
“I want to compete, I want to win, this group can do it,” Laryea mentioned. “This group has a lot of quality. To add Sam, to add myself into this group with a lot of quality … I think the bar for this group is set high, for myself it’s set high. There’s no doubt in my mind this team can make a run in the playoffs and go to the MLS Cup.”
Laryea has signed on mortgage until Dec. 31 from English Premier League membership Nottingham Forest.
He performed in 18 video games for Toronto FC this season till his mortgage from Forest expired on June 30.
When requested if he could be fascinated by a everlasting switch after a scarcity of stability earlier in his profession, Laryea mentioned he was taking it day-by-day.
The pair mentioned they’d spoken with one another about their potential strikes to the Whitecaps and ran their choices to affix by one another.
The reply, Adekugbe mentioned, was the identical.
“I called Richie, he was calling me. He was like ‘are you going?’ I was like ‘yeah, are you going? and he went ‘yeah’ and here we are,” Adekugbe mentioned.
Adekugbe, 28, was signed from Turkish membership Hatayspor for an undisclosed charge.
His MLS contract runs by 2026 and features a membership possibility for 2027. Adekugbe joined Hatayspor in 2021 and made 53 begins for the membership throughout all competitions.
He spent the second half of the 2022-23 season on mortgage to Turkish facet Galatasaray, the place he gained a Super Lig championship title.
Adekugbe mentioned he and the Whitecaps had tried to achieve a deal over the last switch window however he wasn’t in a position to come to an settlement along with his former membership.
He got here up by the Whitecaps U-23 program and left in 2017 after mortgage strikes to Brighton and IFK Goteborg.
“I’ve become more mature. When I was here, I was a young kid. The Whitecaps gave me everything but I think I took advantage of it,” Adekugbe mentioned, including that dwelling overseas for seven years has uncovered him to a spread of studying experiences.
Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini has maintained all through the season that his squad has the standard to make the MLS playoffs, even when outcomes haven’t gone their means.
These signings, he mentioned, emphasize the membership’s need for achievement.
“This move by the club gave everyone starting from me to the staff to the other players more responsibility because we see how the club invested in improving the team and giving us all the tools to become a real contender and a team that can go and try to win every game,” Sartini mentioned.
Sartini mentioned he wasn’t but positive when the 2 gamers would make their debut for the membership, resulting from being at totally different levels of their membership seasons after they signed.
The Whitecaps return to motion on Aug. 20 at B.C. Place in opposition to the San Jose Earthquakes.
