Who is Abraham Romero and what does he mean to the Crew?

The deal hardly caused a ripple among those who follow MLS. Even among Crew fans, sending $50,000 in General Allocation Money to LAFC for backup goalkeeper Abraham Romero mostly told us that injured veteran Evan Bush would not be returning this season. But thanks to international call ups to their top two goalkeepers, Romero has been named as the starter by Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy for Saturday’s match against Seattle. So, just who is Abraham Romero?

Although born in Pasadena, California, the 26-year-old represented Mexico in international play during the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2017. A season with Pachuca in LigaMX in 2018 was followed by two with LA Galaxy II, where he made 19 appearances. Romero signed with Orange County FC of the USL for the 2021 season. He played in just nine games but was a part of a USL Cup winner. The following season he made 21 starts for Las Vegas and was named as the USL Championship Player of the Week for match week 19. He spent last season with defending MLS Cup champions LAFC but did not appear in any games. However, he did see extensive action with LAFC II. Until his trade to the Crew in mid-August, Romero had made two U.S. Open Cup starts this season where he recorded a win over his former club, Las Vegas, and a 6-save clean sheet against Louisville. He also started LAFC’s Leagues Cup shootout loss to Vancouver in late July.

Romero is not exactly getting an easy assignment in the first official MLS start of his career. The Crew is trying to make up ground on Miami in the Supporter’s Shield standings, while also working to catch Cincinnati as well. Seattle is a team sitting just above the playoff line in the Western Conference and still have a good chance to secure a top four seed and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Considering Romero’s resume isn’t overly impressive and the Crew is going to be without multiple key players, I don’t doubt the Sounders smell blood.

With all of that being said, let’s keep one thing in mind: the Crew would have never made a deal for Romero if they did not think he’s capable of performing at a high level. Nancy and GM Issa Tall have shown they know what they are doing when it comes to evaluating talent and finding players who are a good fit. I expect Romero to play well Saturday night and give the Crew every chance to come away with a win.