FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Lost in the shadows of the New England Revolution’s recent acquisition of Jermaine Jones may just be the most intriguing signing that the club made while filing up their roster.
Shortly after the Revs won the blind draw to sign Jones, the team announced the signing of Geoffrey Castillion, a 23-year-old Dutch forward who came up through the famed Ajax system.
After having to wait for his P-1 Visa to process, Castillion joined the club last Saturday for his first training session, and now the 6-foot-3 striker is the one casting shadows.
“It’s been good,” Castillion said. “The people are very friendly here. The training is going well. I’m excited to play the first game, hopefully tomorrow. I hope we win.”
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It’s unclear if Castrillon will see action when the Revs host the Montreal Impact on Saturday (7:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE), but head coach Jay Heaps has liked what he has seen thus far from the big man.
“Geoffrey has adapted well,” Heaps said. “He’s an intelligent soccer player. He’s a dynamic center forward for us. We’re excited about bringing him along and getting him some minutes.”
Born in Amsterdam, Castillion became part of the Ajax Youth Academy as a 14-year-old, eventually making his debut in the top-flight Eredivisie in 2011.
Due to Ajax’s acquisition of Korean striker Suk Hyun-Jun, Castillion became expandable to the club and he was loaned out for portions of the next three seasons.
After scoring 11 goals over that span, Castillion was looking for a change and as chance would have it, the Revolution were looking for a player of his caliber.
“They searched for a strong player in front,” said Castillion. “I’m tall and I can flick the headers to the midfielders, so I think that he told me that. I can take my time because I haven’t had very long in training yet.”
Despite a late start with his new group, Castillion has looked comfortable in his training sessions and was even able to watch the club’s 2-1 win over Chicago on Friday, giving him a proper perspective on things before going full tilt.
“The team played well,” said Castillion. “The ball position is very good from this team. I think we are a strong team and I hope with me the team is stronger.”
