Oakland Roots announced they’ve acquired defender Abdi Mohamed on a transfer from New Mexico United.
Mohamed comes to Oakland as a three-time champion. He won the USL League One regular season title with Greeneville Triumph in 2020 along with the USL League One Cup the same year, followed by winning the MLS Next Pro Cup with Colombus Crew 2 in 2021/2022. He also has international experience with the Somali National Team, appearing nine times.
It’s a signing that continues coach Gavin Glinton’s culture build, now mentioning the key terms “winning” and “experience” in all of Roots’ incoming transactions.
“Abdi is a player who has shown he knows how to win,” Glinton said. “His discipline and character, as well as his experience in playoffs and winning finals is the type of mentality that we want to bring in and have here in Oakland.”
Mohamed comes just one day after signing one of the best attacking players available in the USL Championship in Panos Armenakas.
Yesterday, director of player personnel Nana Attakora said they are building the club with “intention” when asked about their urgency to fill final spots. Following Armenakas’ addition, one non-club source also described Roots as showing “ambition” to compete for titles: “This signing signals the club’s ambition to compete at the highest level and invest in players with proven quality and potential.”
Mohamed is listed as a fullback with his primary role at right-back. He presumably fills Oakland’s starting spot at the position vacated by Memo Diaz.
So what are Roots getting in Mohamed?
Mohamed emerged as a starter for New Mexico United after initially signing a 25-day contract back in May, earning a full-time deal and an extension last month. During that time, he proved vital to NMU’s operation as the top team in the Western Conference’s regular season with three goals and two assists.
His FotMob statistics show a player who can create chances and is defensively sound.
In 1,773 minutes last season, Mohamed completed 29.2 percent of his crosses to rank in the top 9.5 percent of fullbacks throughout the league. It wasn’t a one-off performance for Mohamed either, completing 29.7 percent of crosses in 2023 in MLS Next. His 2024 mark was five percent better than former Roots’ fan-favorite Memo Diaz.
In the previous season with Colombus Crew 2, Mohamed was a proficient passer, ranking near the top of the league in several categories. His 3.19 accurate long passes per match were in the top 16 percent of players, completing 53.3 percent of his long balls and 85.2 percent of overall passes. With Greeneville Triumph in 2021, he was in the top 6.2 percent of players with 3.60 accurate long passes per match.
As a defender, Mohamed provides a considerable boost over Diaz in his ability to keep players from getting around him. Abdi averaged just 0.20 dribbles past him per match in 2024, ranking in the top 5.4 percent of fullbacks. Memo, meanwhile, allowed 1.46 dribbles around him per match in 2024, conversely ranking in the bottom 5.4 percent.
Mohamed also won 61.9 percent of ground duels and 57.1 percent of aerial duels compared to Diaz’s 47.8 and 45.9. He’s also a clean player, drawing just one yellow card last season while Diaz drew 12 in 2,464 minutes.
Mohamed, 28, does not count as an international slot after attending high school in Ohio, playing collegiately with Ohio State and Akron. He is a former second-round pick by New York City in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.
He was loaned to Memphis 901 FC in 2019, making 21 league appearances for 1,314 minutes. From there, he signed with Greeneville Triumph in 2020-2021 and joined Columbus Crew for the next two years, making 54 appearances.
Mohamed returned to the USL Championship with New Mexico United in May of last year.
For his USL career, he has 74 appearances and 60 starts for 5,520 minutes, three goals, and six assists. With Somalia, Mohamed has five World Cup Qualifier appearances and four starts, along with four Africa Cup appearances and three starts.
Welcome to Oakland, Abdi!