The chance to play hero

Well, Terrence Boyd will get his shot at Bundesliga defenses earlier than he expected. The US forward joined Darmstadt, where he will play under former Toronto FC midfielder (and germany handball master) Torsten Frings.

Make no mistake about it, he (or rather, his fit best) is sorely needed. Darmstadt sit bottom of the table at the turn, seven points from safety air and winless in nine. They also stand last in goals scored, with but 11 through 17 games. Their top scorer - and Boyd's immediate competition - is Antonio Colak, a 22-year-old Croatia international with six goals in 15 games across all competitions (but none in his last six league outings).

And so now the bottom five teams in the Bundesliga standings each have an American fighting relegation. The race is on, boys...

Der #sv98 hat sich erneut im Offensivbereich verstärkt: Mittelstürmer Terrence Boyd kommt aus Leipzig nach Darmstadt! Vertrag bis Juni 2018. pic.twitter.com/3wXOaluFMq

— SV Darmstadt 98 (@sv98) January 24, 2017

- Greg Seltzer