Crew SC announced on Monday that the club had signed midfielder Dilly Duka, solidifying the midfielder’s return to Columbus for his second stint with the club after he was originally selected by the Black & Gold eighth overall in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. Over his six-year MLS career, Duka has made 123 regular-season appearances (90 starts) with 11 goals and 13 assists.
Duka played three seasons for Columbus to begin his MLS career from 2010 - 2012, making 45 regular-season appearances (32 starts) for the club with two goals and five assists. And with his recent homecoming, Duka says he has seen the success the Crew SC has had as of late and is ready to contribute immediately.
“I think I fit in really well. This team has been successful in the past couple of years and I definitely want to add to it,” he says. “I want to be a part of it, and I want to add to it, and off the field I know a couple of guys on the team. I played with them I know a couple other of guys on the team because I played against them so I think I'll fit in well and only time will tell.”
During his first spell with Crew SC, Duka played alongside midfielders Tony Tchani, Justin Meram, Federico Higuain, and Ethan Finlay. Now four years later, and with those players still on the roster, Duka’s new teammate and captain Michael Parkhurst says that the Dilly’s style of play fits well into the Black & Gold’s system of play.
“[Duka] is a guy that fits into the system well. He can play anywhere along the front not maybe striker but the other three front guys, he’s got good movement, good one-on-one,” he says. “When he plays wide he tucks inside well. He just pops up all over the field so he’s another attacking threat that we can use and obviously with Pipa injured its good to have reinforcement.”
With the acquisition of the midfielder, Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter says that the midfielder is a dynamic player that can provide depth and versatility to the Crew SC roster.
“We think [Duka] can play a number of positions. We’ve seen him play number 10, number seven, number 11 and we like that,” he says. “I think it gives us options, especially given some of the personnel we’ve had missing that past couple of weeks.”
Along with the flexibility within his style of play, Duka says that his experience from playing for different teams in the League will contribute to both the experience of the team, and his play on the pitch.
“I’m an attack minded player and I’ve played for multiple teams, and I’ve gotten a good amount of playing time on multiple different teams, with multiple different coaches,” he says. “So as an attack minded player, I do have a lot of experience playing in different systems, playing against different teams and their systems, so I’m just coming back to Columbus with a wealth of experience.”
And although Duka is a new to this year's Black & Gold roster, he says he is hungry for wins and wants to bring the MLS Cup back to Columbus.
“I want to win. I want to win something. When I was in Columbus my first year, we went to the Open Cup final but I want to win,” he says. “No matter what team, I see myself in the future whether its here or somewhere else, but I did sign a pretty good contract here long term years wise, but I want to win something.”
“I’d like to bring a championship, no matter what competition it is, to the team I’m player for right now so that’s important for me.“
