AUSTIN, Texas — Austin FC has addressed its goal-scoring issues with the signing of 21-year-old center forward Moussa Djitté (pronounced "jee-TEH").
Djitté, a Senegal native, comes to Austin from Grenoble in France’s Ligue 2. Djitté joins Austin FC after making 67 appearances (46 starts) with French Ligue 2 side Grenoble Foot 38 (GF38) from 2019 to 2021, including 60 Ligue 2 appearances, two playoff matches, three Coupe de France matches and two Coupe de la Ligue matches. During his tenure with GF38, Djitté scored 15 goals and added two assists.
The deal is a multi-year contract through 2024 with an option of an additional year, the club confirmed to KVUE. Djitté was acquired as an MLS U22 Initiative player, a category of young prospects who only count $200,000 against the salary budget regardless of their actual salary. Austin FC did not release Djitté's salary, per club policy.
"We are pleased to welcome Moussa to Austin FC," Austin FC Sporting Director Claudio Reyna said. "He is an ascending and promising young player with a bright future ahead of him. As the Club continues to work on adding quality players to the roster, we believe Djitté is ready to contribute in the immediate term."
Austin FC has scored one goal in the club's previous seven matches. The news of Djitté's signing comes one day after Head Coach Josh Wolff announced forward Danny Hoesen was lost for the season due to a hip injury. Wolff hinted in the press conference Tuesday that the signing of a striker was imminent.
However, Reyna told the media Wednesday that Hoesen was traveling to Colorado to get "reevaluated" on his injury timetable.
"[Hoesen is] progressing well," Renya said. "He's not definitely out for the season. So, we're still hopeful that he could recover in time for the later games in the year. I think Josh maybe saw it as a coach in the short term ... and for a little bit of time that [Hoesen] is not going to be available. But surgery went well on his hip. Again, he's going to be reevaluated and hopefully there will be some positive news. There is a possibility that he'll be back at the end of the year."
Since Hoesen's injury, Wolff has opted as of late to move Cecilio Dominguez from the wing into that striker position. Dominguez leads Austin FC in goals so far this season with three.
Djitté's goal-scoring ability will fill a much-needed hole in Austin FC's production.
"I want to thank Austin FC for giving me this opportunity," Djitté said. "I am eager to represent Austin and play in front of the amazing supporters and environment at Q2 Stadium."
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