Solomon Asante isn’t the biggest household name to have competed in the USL Championship, but after his production over his first three seasons with Phoenix Rising FC and two league Most Valuable Player awards it’s hard to argue there has been a player that has made a bigger on-field impact than the Ghanaian in the league’s history.
In 78 regular-season appearances, Asante has recorded a combined 75 goals and assists while leading his side to silverware in each campaign.
Break apart those two numbers, and Asante’s feat as a dual-finisher and playmaker becomes even more noticeable. His 41 goals and 34 assists are more than any player in either category over the past three campaigns. It does come with a caveat – in terms of goalscorers, Asante’s strike rate of a goal every 161.2 minutes is ninth in the league – but of the eight players above him in that statistic, none has half as many assists as Asante’s 34.
What Asante has meant to Phoenix’s run of success since his arrival, though, is maybe best expressed in the impact his goals have had on the club.
According to American Soccer Analysis, Asante has delivered 19.32 additional expected points for the club through only his goalscoring prowess, a number that figures to continue to rise this year.
Source: USL Championship
