FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The bonds forged on a brief excursion to Arizona ultimately led Björn Runström to continue his career with the New England Revolution.
The ex-Hammarby and Fulham striker signed with the Revs on Wednesday morning, and will join the club once he obtains his P1 work visa and the club receives his international transfer certificate from the Swedish second-division side.
Although any potential move for the 28-year-old looked dead in mid-March after Runström's agent, Patrick Mörk, declared he had rejected a second contract offer from the Revs through his Twitter account, the two parties eventually agreed to terms to bring the well-traveled forward to MLS. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, according to league policy.
Revolution coach Jay Heaps believes Runström can make an impact for his side as the season progresses after seeing the player in a preseason trial spell.
“He's had a good career so far, but I think he's looking for that next step,” Heaps told MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday morning. “I spent a lot of time with him while we were in Arizona and I feel good about his intentions for being here. That was one huge component to getting him here, how he feels he can fit into our team.”
The versatile forward adds yet another option to an attack that already includes the likes of Blake Brettschneider, Fernando Cárdenas, José Moreno and Saër Sène. Once the former Sweden U-21 international links with his new team, Heaps said he will possess an array of weapons to deploy against opposing teams.
“We're getting there [in terms of our attacking depth],” Heaps said. “I think we've certainly got guys that can play. You want to be dynamic in your attack, so we have a lot of different angles to come at you. We have some speed, we have some strength and now we have some versatility.”
