How are Syracuse mens soccer products faring in their pro careers?
Last week, we examined the performance of former Syracuse Orange soccer stars in the early stages of the MLS season. Now, let’s look at how some of their former teammates are doing in other top leagues around the world.
Although the Orange do not have many ex-players competing at the highest levels abroad, the numbers keep growing. Without further ado, let’s see how the three Orange stars playing in top leagues abroad are faring.
Tajon Buchanan | 2017-18 | Inter Milan (Italy) | RM/RWB
The former Syracuse talent who has found the most success abroad, Buchanan swapped Belgian table-toppers Club Brugge for Italian giants Inter Milan in early January. Since making the switch, the Canadian has found adjusting to life a bit difficult as he has only featured in three games for a total of 36 minutes. The majority of these minutes have also come in matches in which Inter is comfortably beating a worse opponent. Buchanan did make a seven-minute cameo against last season’s title winners Napoli. Buchanan looked lively and direct when involved, but appears to be still getting up to speed with the physical and technical aspects of the Italian Serie A. With Inter comfortably leading the league and en route to the title, expect Buchanan to get more minutes as the team will have fewer ‘must-win’ games, and head coach Simone Inzaghi should be able to rotate the squad.
Nathan Opoku | 2022 | OH Leuven (Belgium) | ST
We checked in on Opoku in January, as it was the middle of the Belgian league season. You can read more about his performances in the first half of the season here. Being one of the top ten leagues in the world’s most competitive continent, it is not surprising that Opoku has found some struggles. However, it is surprising that the Belgian found so much success last season that he has yet to uncover this year. Since suffering a significant groin injury in the early months of the season, Opoku has greatly struggled to regain a solidified spot in the team. In the last three matches for Leuven, Opoku only appeared off of the bench. The Ghanaian’s poor form has not been helped by his club performances, as Leuven has only won four games since Opoku’s return from injury. Although the club was able to narrowly escape the relegation playoffs, Opoku is both out of form and out of favor with head coach Óscar García. It will be interesting to see how Opoku performs in his last two months in Belgium before he returns to his parent club in England, Leicester City. With a lack of jaw-dropping performances in Belgium, expect Leicester to loan the former Orange back out to a slightly lower-tier European league next season.
Mo Adams | 2016-17 | Al-Khaleej (Saudi Arabia) | CM
Considered to be a top-30 league in the world, Mo Adams now applies his trade alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Sadio Mané in the Saudi Pro League. Since switching the US for the Middle East in 2022, Adams has rarely been featured, which is somewhat surprising. In this season of the Pro League, Adams has only played 86 minutes across three matches. It is unclear if Adams is not playing regularly due to fitness, lack of drive, or poor form. Hopefully, the former SU baller will earn his way back to the starting lineup and continue his career.
Although the SU contingent abroad may be struggling for minutes and form at the moment, Buchanan, Opoku, and Adams still have roles in their squad and will likely earn the chance to improve their performances. On top of this, MLS talents who used to wear Orange and Blue, such as Miles Robinson, could be making the move abroad in the coming seasons. Stay tuned for more updates on the alumni network for Syracuse men’s soccer as well as updates on the performances of the current team and the next wave of potential pros to represent the Orange.