Colorado Rapids have announced the acquisition of Ghanaian defender Lalas Abubakar on a one-year loan from Columbus Crew SC in exchange for $125,000 in 2019 Targeted Allocation Money.

“We are pleased to bring in a young and athletic defender in Lalas,” said Rapids Executive Vice President & General Manager, Pádraig Smith .

“He is a quick and physical centerback with good experience in the league.”

Abubakar joins Colorado after spending two-full seasons with Crew SC where he notched 31 appearances and scored two goals.

He was selected in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus.

He is coming off a 2018 MLS campaign where he started in 20 matches and made 23 total appearances, his most in a single season.

The 6-foot center back from the University of Dayton was named the USL PDL Defender of the Year in 2016.

It’s widely reported in the US media that Lalas was farmed out to make room for new signing David Accam who joined Columbus Crew on Wednesday.