Moïse Bombito on transfer from Rapids to OGC Nice in France: “It’s hard to say goodbye”

Moïse Bombito grew up in Canada and is now chasing dreams in France, but Colorado will always be home.

In just three years, the now-former Colorado Rapids center back went from playing for a community college to playing a big role on a contending MLS team, representing Canada at Copa América and now moving onto a top-five European league in France’s Ligue 1.

While the world may see the Rapids as a small stepping stone in Bombito’s meteoric rise to stardom, he sees Colorado as his launchpad.

“It’s a bit of a bittersweet moment, really, because I’ve created friendships, I’ve allowed myself to grow at this club, and this club has allowed me to grow as well,” Bombito said. “It’s hard to say goodbye because I’ve made friends here and there are people I want to stay in contact with even though I’m leaving.”

The permanent transfer for Bombito was formally announced Tuesday by the Rapids and by his new team, OGC Nice. In return for the star defender, the Rapids received $7.7 million with up to $3 million in incentives and a 20% sell-on clause should the Canadian move onto a new club in the future.

A feat almost unimaginable to most just a short two years ago. Bombito had a dream of playing for a top-five league in the back of his mind. Entering the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, Rapids president Pádraig Smith saw the blueprint and took a chance on the defender.

“I’ve joked around a lot with him over the past two weeks about how he was the best interview I’ve ever done at a combine. He was just incredible,” Smith said. “It gave us a lot of comfort when we thought about drafting him — we knew we were getting a good kid who was going to work hard and soak up as much information as he could to strive to be the best player he could be.”

He turned out to be all that and more for Smith, coach Chris Armas & Co.

The physical traits like his speed and size have always been there — those things had European clubs like Olympique Lyon and Red Bull Salzburg interested in the first place — but Armas was patient with his development, always calling for him to become a “master of the basics” before letting his killer speed take over.

While he admitted he’s not quite a master yet, the work he puts in has never been about his own gain; everything he does is for the good of the team.

Tracking back from box to box on a pair of Inter Miami counterattacks in April caught the world’s attention when he was clocked as the fastest player in the MLS, but it wasn’t about the attention. Every jaw-dropping sprint or timely tackle is solely to stop a chance, to prevent a goal and to help his team win.

Bombito’s favorite moment in Colorado, he said, was not when he scored his first MLS goal on his birthday against LAFC with his mom in attendance. That was his second-favorite moment.

The first? Lifting the Rocky Mountain Cup in July.

“(The RMC) was a moment that brought all the Colorado Rapids fans and the whole organization together,” Bombito said. “It’s something we were looking for for many years, so for me to be able to be a part of that moment is something I’ll cherish.”

The transfer came with only a couple of days left in the MLS secondary transfer window, with no subsequent moves being made by the time the window closed. The Rapids wanted to keep Bombito for at least the rest of this season while the iron was still striking hot for Armas’ underdogs. But the offer from Nice ended up being too good to turn down.

While Armas certainly would have liked to keep Bombito, he and the club have stuck to the philosophy that sent Bombito to Copa América and midfielder Djordje Mihailovic to the Olympics: “The players’ dreams are our dreams.” A mantra Armas has lived by this season and which takes some of the sting out of losing your best defender ahead of a potential Leagues Cup and MLS Cup run.

It’s bittersweet for Bombito, too — he’s achieving a childhood goal, but leaving a club and its fans for which he has nothing but love. One of the defining moments for Bombito as a member of the Rapids was the support he received after he was the target of racist harassment during Canada’s fourth-place finish at Copa América.

“(The fans) have brought so much support not just toward me, but toward the whole team,” Bombito said. “When I saw (tifos and other shows of support) at the game against Montréal, I had a tear coming in and my eyes were warm. That just goes to show how close I am with the fan base here and how supportive they are.

“If I can ever come back to share that experience again with them, I’ll gladly do it.”

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