Charlotte FC signed Abdoulaye Doucoure, a midfielder who played 278 Premier League games for Watford and Everton, before the league's final roster deadline on Friday, the club said Saturday.
The club also promoted two players from Crown Legacy FC, its team in the development league MLS NEXT Pro: winger Nathan Richmond and forward Hugo Mbongue. To make room, it moved forward Archie Goodwin and Aron John, both recovering from surgery, to the season-ending injury list, which does not count against the league's roster limits.
Under league rules, Friday was the day each club had to submit its final 30-man roster, and that roster cannot change until the day after MLS Cup except in cases of extreme hardship. Barring that, these are the players Charlotte will use for its last seven regular-season games and any playoff games after them. Charlotte, fifth in the Eastern Conference at 12-8-7, starts that stretch tonight at 7:30 at home against FC Dallas.
Doucoure's contract runs only through the end of this season. He played five seasons for Watford before moving to Everton, and he fills one of Charlotte's international roster spots, the limited places each MLS club has for players who do not qualify as domestic. General manager Zoran Krneta pointed to his "expansive Premier League experience" and said he can carry play from midfield into attack.
Richmond has eight goals and 10 assists for Crown Legacy this season, third in MLS NEXT Pro in assists, and made his MLS debut against the Chicago Fire on Sept. 26. Mbongue has 14 goals for Crown Legacy, the most he has scored in a season. Both are signed through next spring's short MLS season, which bridges the league's move to a summer-to-spring calendar, with club options for two more seasons.
Neither Goodwin nor John was expected back this season. Goodwin had foot surgery on Oct. 6 and is expected to miss four to five months, past MLS Cup on Dec. 18. John, a 20-year-old from Charlotte, had shoulder surgery in August, with a recovery the club put at about five months.