Rapids transfer Moïse Bombito for record outbound fee, league sources say

More transfer fee records are falling in Colorado.

The Colorado Rapids have agreed to transfer star Canadian center back Moïse Bombito for an MLS center back-record $7.7 million to Ligue 1’s OGC Nice in France, league sources told The Denver Post Tuesday.

The deal, which almost quadruples the Rapids’ outbound transfer fee record of $2.1 million (Sam Vines in 2021), includes add-ons worth up to an additional $3 million if Bombito meets certain appearance and performance numbers.

The league source added there is a “significant” sell-on clause, meaning the Rapids will receive a portion of a transfer fee should Bombito be transferred to another team in the future.

Bombito’s transfer comes just a day before the MLS secondary transfer window is set to close on Wednesday night.

In January, the Rapids broke their inbound transfer fee record when they signed midfielder Djordje Mihailovic from AZ Alkmaar for just more than $3.5 million. They nearly broke that record again in June when they signed forward Rafael Navarro from Palmeiras for $3.5 million.

Now, they’ve made that money back and then some.

The 24-year-old from Montreal has risen in performance and notoriety over the past few years. As recently as 2022, Bombito played at Iowa Western, a junior college, before moving to New Hampshire and eventually being picked third by the Rapids in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.

He caught the eyes of international squads after a video of him sprinting back to stop an attack during a game at Inter Miami, when he was clocked as MLS’ fastest player this season at more than 23 miles per hour, went viral.