The New England Revolution has agreed to a trade for Austin FC right back Nick Lima ahead of the league’s trade window opening on Dec. 11, sources briefed on the deal told The Athletic.
The Revs will send Austin around $275,000 GAM in exchange for Lima, the 29-year-old former San Jose Earthquakes homegrown defender. The deal is agreed to but cannot be processed until Dec. 11 when the league lifts the roster freeze. The MLS Cup is on Dec. 9.
Lima has been with Austin since the club’s inaugural 2021 season and has been a constant on the backline, having made 104 appearances. He began his career in San Jose and made 107 appearances for the Earthquakes from 2017-2020. He has earned nine caps with the USMNT, the last of which came in 2019.
New England’s starting right back, Brandon Bye, is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered at the end of August and will likely miss the beginning of 2024 as he continues to recover.
The move kicks off a busy offseason for both involved clubs.
New England still has to officially name a successor to Bruce Arena for both sporting director and coach. Curt Onalfo is the current interim sporting director and Clint Peay finished the year as interim head coach. Designated player Gustavo Bou is out of contract while the Revs still have to decide on the purchase option of talented winger Tomas Chancalay.
Austin’s rebuild under new sporting director Rodolfo Borrell is well underway, with a summer trade of Diego Fagundez and then an end-of-season roster update that saw nine contract options declined and one loan expire.
The Revs finished fifth in the East and were eliminated in round one of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Union. Austin finished 12th in the West and missed the playoffs.
Required reading
(Photo: Brett Carlsen / Getty Images)
