Dominic Oduro has learned not to become too attached.
As a rookie for FC Dallas in 2006, the Ghanaian never imagined he'd be traded. He certainly doesn't harbor those thoughts anymore. On Monday morning, Chicago sent Oduro to Columbus for Dilly Duka, sending him to his fifth team before the start of his eighth MLS season.
“You don't get comfortable,” Oduro told MLSsoccer.com shortly after learning about the trade. “The more you play in this league, the more experience you get with situations like this.”
In Columbus, the speedster will join a forward stable that includes last year's midseason acquisition, Jairo Arrieta, who scored nine goals in 18 games with the Crew, and first-round SuperDraft pick Ryan Finley.
Oduro had the most successful run of his career playing with the Fire's Argentine No. 10 Sebastián Grazzini, when he scored seven goals at the tail-end of 2011. In Columbus, he hopes to have similar success playing in front of Argentine playmaker Federico Higuaín.
“He's a fantastic player,” Oduro said. “He's a Grazzini-like player. I just have to get that chemistry with him and whoever I play with out there. I'm really excited to go out there.”
Oduro scored a career-high 12 goals in 2011, his first season as a consistent starter. He scored five goals in the first 22 games of 2012, but the 27-year-old became a secondary option when the Fire signed Designated Player Sherjill MacDonald to play up top.
“I want to be here,” he told MLSsoccer.com at the end of last season. “At the same time, I still want to play. It comes down to that. If I believe I deserve to play, and I feel like I’m not being utilized the way it is, like I said, at the end, you’ve got to move on.”
After two weeks of preseason, the end came. So once again, Oduro will head to a new city in hopes of finding a consistent starting spot.
The emotions used to run high after receiving the call that he had been traded. But on Monday, after the Fire and Crew pulled the trigger on a swap that had been rumored for weeks, he felt different.
“I'm really calm right now,” Oduro said. “At the end of the day, I just want my playing time.”
