The Rapids continued a busy week of transactions on Wednesday, sending midfielder Colin Clark to Houston in exchange for veteran midfielder Brian Mullan.
The teams swapped players with Colorado roots. Clark is a native of Fort Collins. Mullan, who attended Regis Jesuit in Aurora, was the 1997 Denver Post high school player of the year.
Colorado also received a fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft. The trade just sneaked in under the MLS trade deadline today, at 3 p.m. mountain time.
Mullan, 32, a ninth overall pick of Los Angeles in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft, will play with his fourth club, after time with the Galaxy, San Jose and Houston. He has won four MLS titles (L.A. in 2002; San Jose in ’03; and Houston in ’06 and ’07). And he has four caps with the U.S. national team.
“When speaking about him, two words always come to mind: fierce competitor,” Houston coach Dominic Kinnear told . “He is a great teammate, great player to coach, unselfish, has a great attitude, was a hard worker and was fun to watch.”
With the Dynamo since 2006, Mullan played in 136 games for Houston. In a 10-year career, he has 26 goals and 46 assists. This season, Mullan has three goals and three assists.
Clark, 26, ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last month and is out for the season. He has been a standby in Colorado since signing with the Rapids in 2006. He has 10 goals and 10 assists in 84 games. But his time on the field has been limited some the past two seasons with knee injuries.
The Rapids also waived defender Mike Holody, a fourth-round pick in 2009.
Colorado on Tuesday traded midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy to the New York Red Bulls for forward Macoumba Kandji.
