Official: Defensive Midfielder Hamzat Ojediran Sign with Colorado Rapids for Four Season

Commerce, City, Colo. – Colorado Rapids have signed Nigerian defensive midfielder Hamzat Ojediran, as first reported by Tom Bogert of The Athletic. The club confirmed the signing Thursday. The fee is believed to be around $3 million. The contract is for four season through 2028-29, with two option years, conceding in 2030-31.

It’s possible he’s signed on TAM or as a U22 player. I would be very surprised if he is a designated player as the Rapids are sticking with the 2-4 (two DPs and four U22 players) setup. That $3 million price tag is eye opening given the club is also expected to sign Dante Sealy from CF Montreal for $2 million GAM. Then there was the purchase option on center back Noah Cobb.

$5.5 million plus on the three positions of need this offseason, and all before January 1 is a lot of business and money for the club.

Hamzat Ojediran is a defensive midfielder from Nigeria. He played academy football in his home country and is capped for the Super Eagles at the youth level. He joined Lens at the start of last season after stops in Albania and Hungary. He played 416 minutes in the 2024-25 campaign but has not made a league appearance for Lens this season. They are fending off PSG at the top of the table in Ligue 1.

“We have some tremendous players in midfield. Ojediran was good enough to play for our squad but competition is very high in midfield at the moment,” Out of context RC Lens told BW. “He’s a good midfielder but very aggressive. Yellow cards are bound to be a factor. However, he makes good contributions both offensively and defensively.”

Because of where Ojediran has played, there’s not much fancy stats available on him. If there is a concern, he hasn’t played that much. Take out the 2023-24 season with Debreceni VSC (Hungary), he’s never been a regular starter in league play for a first team. Is he doing something well as a substitute or is it vibes that’s getting him upgrade moves to a big five league?

One source did say a phone call was very convincing in moving the deal forward. The player is bought into the project. That’s good.

That $3 million transfer fee would be the third highest in club history behind Djordje Mihailović and Rafael Navarro. The club must see something in him that warrants that price tag. Fans will see parallels to Lamine Diack, who did not work out. African holding midfielder, coming from a French club. Bounced around lower tier European leagues. Similar price tag as well. Diack was a loan with an option to buy and Ojediran appears to be a straight purchase. So there has to be more confidence in this acquisition than the test drive that was the Diack experience.

Several fans have also joked they read his name as Hazmat, not Hamzat. A pun to be had about the environmental issues around the stadium.

Given the price tag, just like Sealy, the player will come with expectations. He should be a starter next year, in what could be mostly a 4-3-3. This surely signals that Oliver Larraz will pursue opportunities rather than re-signing with Colorado. Josh Atencio and Connor Ronan will be have competition.

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