Tim Howard is coming home.
BREAKING: @TimHowardGK to join @ColoradoRapids at the end of the season. pic.twitter.com/SwUxhAfCO9
— Everton (@Everton) March 20, 2016
Howard had one year remaining on his contract with Everton but, after talking with his family and club chairman Bill Kenwright, decided to make the move to Colorado this summer. (The Rapids snagged him largely by virtue of holding the #1 spot in MLS’ Allocation Ranking Order. The Chicago Fire now hold the top spot.)
The Guardian is reporting that MLS is paying a transfer fee of £415,000 (a little less than $600,000) while ESPN is citing Howard’s salary as being in the neighborhood of $2.5 million per year on a three and a half year contract.
The Generation Adidas alum got his professional start in MLS with the NY/NJ MetroStars in the late 90s and early aughts. In 2003 he moved to Manchester United, where a strong start soon gave way to a protracted struggle for first team. He joined Everton for the 2006-07 season, initially on loan before the move was made permanent in February of that season.
Howard’s form has struggled this season and in the past few months has faced more direct competition with Joel Robles. While Howard did not cite this as a contributing factor in his decision to finish out his career in MLS, it’s not much of a stretch to read that in the story.
For his part, Howard hit all the right valedictory notes in the announcement:
I will remain an Evertonian for life. This will always be my team, my club. I sacrificed so much to play the amount of games I have over a 10-year period, so I will continue to support this club that I love. […] I will miss [Everton] a lot. This is home. I grew up here. To stay 10 years in any place is a long time and this has become without doubt my family. You see the same faces every day and you have respect for them, you have love for them and a great working relationship. And because this is home, of course I will miss it, but I’m excited about my move to Colorado Rapids and continuing my career with them.
Meanwhile, MLS may have gotten a little carried away with the news.