Photo credit: Colorado Rapids
Colorado makes first move of summer ahead of window’s July 13 opening
The 2023 Colorado Rapids MVP is on the move back closer to home.
The club announced Wednesday that it transferred midfielder Connor Ronan to Aberdeen F.C., which competes in the Scottish Premiership. Ronan, born in England, will join the team which finished eighth of 12 in Scotland last month.
Sources confirmed to The Denver Post that the move was a free transfer. Ronan’s contract was set to end at the end of the 2026 season with a club option for 2027.
“We’d like to thank Connor for his contributions to the Colorado Rapids over the past three-and-a-half seasons,” Rapids President Pádraig Smith said in a club statement. “Connor has been a top professional throughout his time with the club and played an important role both on and off the field. We’re grateful for his commitment to the Rapids and wish him and his family nothing but success in the next chapter of their journey.”
Ronan joined the Rapids from English Premier League club Wolverhampton ahead of the 2023 season, where he was signed to from 2016 to his arrival in Colorado, though he was constantly on loan. He made 15 appearances in all competitions for Wolverhampton.
He was one of the few bright spots in Colorado in 2023, which finished as the worst campaign in club history. He scored a goal and provided nine assists for what turned out to be his best season in burgundy, and he was voted team MVP.
Since then, nagging injuries and even a 2025 appendectomy kept him from being the inked-in starter he was in 2023. Starting in 2024 with a coaching change from Robin Fraser to Chris Armas, his usage rate consistently decreased from 26 appearances (21 starts) in Armas’ first year, to 24 appearances (10 starts) last season. He appeared just six times (two starts) this year — coach Matt Wells’ debut season.
Ronan’s calling card is his vision and long ball, which heavily favored an Armas system in the counterattack and doesn’t particularly fit Wells’ more methodical tactical ideas in possession. His second-best attribute is his versatility in the midfield and an ability to play box to box, which got him on the field in 2026 even if he wasn’t a perfect fit in Wells’ system.
Almost a year ago, Ronan got his U.S. Green Card, which took him off one of the club’s international slots and designated him a permanent U.S. resident.
Wells said before the World Cup break that he and the club would look hard at the current roster ahead of the transfer window and “make decisions” based on individuals’ fitness for his style and the club’s goals to win a trophy.
In MLS, the Rapids currently sit in 11th in the Western Conference in what has been an up-and-down regular season. They’re two wins away from winning the U.S. Open Cup for the first time, however, with the semifinal at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park against St. Louis CITY on Sept. 14.
The MLS summer transfer window opens July 13 and goes through Sept. 2. The Rapids could make a number of moves to bolster the squad in numerous positions, particularly if they choose to cash in on one or both of their two most valuable players at the moment: 26-year-old forward Rafael Navarro and 18-year-old center back Lucas Herrington.
