FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Memories of trips to hotspots like Los Angeles, New York and Miami weighed on Björn Runström's mind as he pondered his options during the winter.
The former Sweden youth international forward completed his third spell at his beloved Hammarby IF earlier this year and started his search for a new club shortly thereafter. He soon turned his attention to MLS.
“I think the league is becoming better and better and more interesting from [a European perspective],” Runström told MLSsoccer.com last week. “More players are coming here. I've been in the US a lot of times for vacations, and I really love it over here.”
He liked it well enough to travel to Arizona to link up with New England on trial during the club's preseason exertions and subsequently pursued a move to the Revolution.
It took a somewhat extended period of time to hash out the contractual details – at one point, Runström's agent, Patrick Mörk, declared the deal dead on Twitter – and secure the deal to bring the 27-year-old forward to MLS.
“It was a trial and then, after that, it was a little bit of talking,” Runström said. “I had an agent that did most of it, so I don't know a lot of it, but, finally, they sorted it out and I'm here now.”
It didn't take long for the ex-Fulham man to settle into his duties with the Revolution and start his American experience in a new city. He trained with his teammates for the first time last week and took the field as a second-half substitute in Saturday's 2-1 defeat to D.C. United.
“It's exciting,” Runström said before he made his debut. “It just feels good to be over here. I've just been waiting for a visa and all of that process. It's good to be here, start training and get the body going.”
