Commerce City, Colo. – Colorado Rapids center back Lucas Herrington to Hull City is close to being finalized reports The Athletic and Give Me Sports. News initially broke Saturday morning ahead of Colorado’s 1-0 win over Austin FC. Sunday morning, Tom Bogart of The Athletic reported a verbal agreement had been made for $17 million up front, $6 mill in add-ons, and a 15% sell-on clause.
This move would make sense for all parties. Liverpool and Barcelona have expressed interest in the 18-year-old, among other Champions League level clubs. $17 million should meet the Rapids FO’s ‘can’t say no’ price. It would shatter the club record transfer fees for Moïse Bombito ($7.7 million plus add ons) and Djordje Mihailović ($8 million).
For Herrington, he’d have a decent shot at playing in his first season. The Tigers have four center backs on their roster. A newly promoted Premier League doesn’t spend that kind of money on a player unless they think they can contribute to stay up. If they get relegated, the Aussie would certainly a building block for a push for automatic promotion the following year. Or he plays well on a relegated team and then a bigger club comes in and they sell him for a profit. Or Herrington helps them stay up. That would be money well spent.
Even at $17-23 mill, it seems like a good financial move for now and in the future for Hull. Herrington seems worth the price. Previous rumors had the fee in the range of $25-27 mill.
The deal looks even better given earlier this year, Colorado bought out Brisbane Roar’s sell-on clause. It was believed to be 20% and was sold for $560,000 AUD, equivalent to around $400,000 USD. That will save Colorado $3.4 mill USD up front and could be worth +$4.5 mill depending on add-ons and Colorado’s sell-on clause with Hull. That’s Pádraig Smith’s best Rapids Math ever.
Herrington arrived in MLS in January and has been a phenom for Colorado. In one week, he played Lionel Messi, Son Heung-min, and Thomas Müller and did not look out of place.
He was a late add to the World Cup roster for Australia, after joining camp and getting just his second senior cap for the Socceroos in a friendly against Mexico. He started their final two games of the tournament against Paraguay and Egypt. Herrington went viral for taking a penalty in that Round of 32 game, sending it off the crossbar. Despite missing the pen, the reaction for the Football World was overwhelmingly positive.
Read More: Lucas Herrington will be remembered for missing a penalty at the World Cup. For only good reasons.
The timing of this move is interesting. Hull have their final preseason game August 8 and kickoff the Premier League season August 15. Colorado Rapids do not play till August 15. Bombito was held out of multiple Leagues Cup games in 2024 with a minor leg injury before his move to OGC Nice. He did his physical in France. Mihailović was also held out of a Sunday Leagues Cup game before his transfer to Toronto FC.
Herrington played 90 minutes against Austin. Burgundy Wave can confirm the squad will have a few days off and resume training the middle of next week. That’s plenty of time for a round trip flight to Heathrow and a medical in Yorkshire.
For Colorado, this would be an economic windfall like no other. Burgundy Wave has estimated the club made $6 million off the April 18 game at Mile High. It’s been a quiet summer transfer window. They’ve moved on from a few bench players who were on bigger contracts. Youssef Maziz has been confirmed on a free transfer. The Rapids could use the money to fill the two U22 slots to push for the playoffs and the U.S. Open Cup. It would be enough money for them to shift to three Designated Players and still sign a U22.
Double the club record transfer fee. Potentially triple it in the long run should Hull sell. Sign 2-3 players. Replace the scoreboard. Maybe win the Open Cup. That seems worth losing Herrington.
Herrington would immediately be one of the most prominent national team players back home in terms of club pedigree. He’s in position to be one of the best players for the Socceroos over the coming World Cup cycle. Everything’s looking up for the player.
Herrington’s time in Burgundy and Blue will have been short, but what a seven months it turned out to be.
This article was last updated 11 a.m. Mountain Time, August 2, 2026.
Thank you for reading Burgundy Wave. Support us via our Patreon starting at $5/month. You can also make a one-time contribution via Tip Jar. We’re always looking for new talent. Let us know if you’re interested in covering Colorado Soccer.
Eamon Shaw 
Spencer Baldwin 
[…] The transfer fee is a record for Colorado, more than double the fee paid for Moïse Bombito two years ago. The fee is believed to be in the range of $15 million up front, plus $5 million in add-ons, plus a 15% sell-on clause per Fabrizio Romano. Various reports from The Athletic and Give Me Sports had reported numbers ranging from $25 million to $17 million with varying add-on amounts and sell-on clauses. This was over the past week when Hull’s interest was initially reported. […]