Colorado Rapids sign Brondby's Andreas Maxso as Designated Player
By Chris Smith
The Colorado Rapids have added their second Designated Player (DP) this offseason in the form of Danish defender Andreas Maxsø.
Maxsø joins from Brøndby IF on a three-year contract through the 2025 MLS season with a club option on 2026, sitting alongside French forward Kevin Cabral as one of two DPs. The Rapids still have one more spot to fill ahead of the 2023 campaign.
Now 28 years old, Maxsø arrives following a three-year spell where he captained Brøndby to the 2020/21 Danish Superliga title, winning the club's Player of the Year award in 2020.
Maxsø started his career at fellow Danish outfit Nordsjælland, playing over 100 games between 2012 and 2018, while he's also represented Osmanlıspor in Turkey, FC Zurich in Switzerland, and KFC Uerdingen 05 in Germany.
At international level, Maxsø is capped twice at senior level for Denmark, playing in friendlies against Sweden (2020) and Serbia (2022).
"Andreas is an experienced and physically imposing center-back who has led his side to a championship in a strong European league," Pádraig Smith, Colorado's executive vice president and general manager, said in a club press release. "His proven leadership and commanding presence will be a tremendous addition to our team as we tackle multiple competitions next season."
Though not the usual strategy employed by teams, Maxsø joins the likes of Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC), Thiago Martins (NYCFC), and Teenage Hadebe (Houston Dynamo) as defenders to occupy a DP spot.
The Rapids begin the 2023 MLS season away at the Seattle Sounders on February 26, looking to return to the Playoffs after finishing 10th in the Western Conference last year.