Early impressions of Wilfrid Kaptoum

The acquisition of Wilfrid Kaptoum definitely raised a few eyebrows among New England Revolution fans. Anytime you can get a player who has ties to FC Barcelona, there is reason to be excited. So far the move seems to be going well with Kaptoum making an impression on his teammates right away.

Injuries have held back Kaptoum, but at the age of 24, he still has a lot of soccer left to play. His experience playing at the highest levels of soccer should help him as he adjusts to playing in MLS.

Kaptoum has appeared in the Champions League as well as the Copa del Rey while with Barcelona. Also while with Real Betis, he got more playing time in La Liga as well as getting some Europa League matches under his belt.

Among some of the players who spoke to the media on Tuesday was Teal Bunbury and he said while it’s still early, one thing has stood out when it comes to Kaptoum.

He’s a great guy. He’s coming in and he’s working his tail off, and for me that’s the biggest sign of a good player is coming in and being willing to work and wanting to push himself and his teammates. That’s something that I’m looking at that – he’s really comfortable on the ball, he can get stuck in – but for me being a hard worker is a telltale sign of someone who’s going to help this team out a lot and he’s doing that so far.”

Looking at the 2021 squad, there is one player who Kaptoum could create a dangerous duo with. Kaptoum and Carles Gil could be a dominating presence in the midfield for New England.

Both of these players have some similarities in their careers as they both played in La Liga at one point. The duo actually played against each other when Gil was still in Spain.

Similar to Bunbury, Gil stressed that it has only been two days, but it seems as though Kaptoum’s teammates have only great things to say.

He said, “I know him from having played one game against him when he was with Betis. Like I said, it’s only been two days, but I’m sure he’s going to bring a lot. He’s a very dynamic player. I think he can help us and hopefully he can. Last year we showed that we have a very competitive team and if I think that if we add good players to this group we can do important things.”

Kaptoum seems to be doing all the right things and with how glowingly his teammates talk about him, he should be an important part of the squad in 2021.