Football
Brian O'Connell for ESPNBoston.com 10y

Revolution trade Sene to Red Bulls

The New England Revolution on Tuesday traded former leading goal-scorer Saer Sene and an international roster spot to the New York Red Bulls for forward Andre Akpan and allocation money.

Sene, who led the club in scoring with 11 goals in 2012, was originally signed by the Revolution on a free transfer from the Bayern Munich reserves before the 2012 season. His goal-scoring prowess and trademark blonde Mohawk made him an instant favorite among the fans.

But the 26-year-old French striker/winger was also beset by injuries during his time in New England. He suffered an ACL injury in August 2012, and was sidelined by a serious ankle injury in October 2013.

In April, Sene briefly left the team for undisclosed reasons. Following his return, he only saw the field in three substitute appearances, the last coming in a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on July 4. His lone goal of the season came in a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia on June 28.

"We want to wish Saer all the best as he begins a new chapter of his career," Revolution general manager Michael Burns said in statement on Tuesday.

While Sene will be heading to the tri-state area, the move for Akpan will be a homecoming of sorts. The fifth-year forward played at Harvard from 2006-2009, where he was a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist in 2009.

He was drafted in the second round of the 2010 SuperDraft by Colorado, where he spent three seasons and scored four goals in 29 games. At the start of the 2013 season, he was traded to New York for a conditional draft pick. In New York, Akpan played a total of 12 games, but failed to find the back of the net.

"Andre is a player with experience in MLS who has roots in our area playing at Harvard," Revolution general manager Michael Burns said. "We believe he can provide us with added competition at the forward position and give us more depth as we head into a playoff push."

The trade is the first for the Revolution since February, when they acquired Daigo Kobayashi from Vancouver for a 2016 fourth-round pick.

In addition to the player-for-player swap, the Revolution also received an undisclosed sum of allocation funds, while the Red Bulls acquired an international spot for the duration of the 2014 season. With Sene gone, the Revolution are currently using just three international roster spots.

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