Kevin-Prince Boateng Reveals He Was Close to MLS Move 5 Years Ago

Kevin -Prince Boateng in 2018. Photo by Pixathlon/Shutterstock (9629126ai)

Ghanian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng had the luck to play for some of Europe’s biggest clubs in the past several years, wearing jerseys of La Liga giants Barcelona and Seria A powerhouse Milan among others. However, it turns out that Boateng’s career nearly went in another way as he was close to making a move to MLS five years ago.

 In late 2015, Boateng terminated his deal with Schalke 04 and was able to sign with a club of his preference as a free agent. And while he ended up signing with Milan, he was strongly considering an offer from Orlando City SC where he would team up with Brazilian star midfielder Kaka.

However, Orlando didn’t give him enough time to decide so Boateng ended up declining the opportunity.

“They sent me the offer, whatever, I was good with the coach. But they gave me like 10 hours to decide and I said OK, I have to decide as a father, as a husband and as a player. Ten hours wasn’t enough, so I had to turn down the offer,” Boateng told Tony Meola and Brian Dunseth during a recent performance on SiriusXM FC. “Kaka even called me when he played there, he said, ‘Listen, come here. It’s a great city. Great place. The football is getting much better.’ I was really close to coming to the States, to MLS.”

Boateng played for seven different clubs since declining Orlando’s offer but never came close to playing in MLS again. However, the 33-year-old wouldn’t mind coming to the U.S. in the future.

“I always said to everybody who asked me, I love MLS, and who knows, I would love to play there because even to say I played in MLS as well because it’s getting bigger,” he added.

Kevin-Prince Boateng initially started the 2019/20 season with Seria A side Fiorentina. After scoring one goal in 15 games, Boateng was loaned to Turkish side Besiktas. In five games in Turkey, he managed to net two times.

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