Kévin Denkey has not yet arrived in Cincinnati, his current club (Cercle Brugge) announced on twitter he would stay in Belgium until December 15th before making the jump across the pond to join FC Cincinnati. But he has visited Cincy and gotten a taste for what the Queen City has to offer.
In a now much reported and confirmed part of FC Cincinnati’s recruitment of the Golden Boot winning striker, Denkey along with a representative from Cercle, visited Cincy to get a sense of his new home and to seal the deal.
That visit, Chris Albright says, was essential to getting the deal done and proving what kind of club FC Cincinnati is to their newest star.
“I think the people of Cincinnati showed out that day,” Albright said. Denkey along with the entourage of others were in attendance for the FCC playoff match with NYCFC that The Orange and Blue ultimately lost in penalties.
“I think the people of Cincinnati showed out that day. That we have fanatical fans. So I think, to be honest, our fans can pat themselves on the back, because Kevin was in the stands that day, and the deal wasn't done yet. So they played a giant role, and continue to play a giant role in what TQL Stadium is. What it means to play for FCC Cincinnati.”
Albright highlighted in the press conference, but also in an interview he did with Pat Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer at the time of Denkey’s signing, that there was some speculation from the executives from overseas that while MLS does draw attendance, they don’t have true fans. That people come through the doors but the atmosphere is docile and, perhaps, quiet.
The FC Cincinnati faithful, despite leaving that game heartbroken, left a lasting impression. Changing hearts and minds, and sealing the deal on a game changing transfer.
“I came and I saw a lot of things…and it was like, crazy,” Denkey said in November in an exclusive interview with FCCincinnati.com. “ It was a short trip, but I saw the game, I saw the facilities and it was like, honestly, we in Europe, in Belgium don’t have that.”
“Maybe one club can have these things and they play in the Champions League. So it felt like a serious club, with serious goals who want to win everything and I want to win everything.”
Denkey furthered his thoughts in an interview with CBS Golazo Network after his signing was announced.
“I can’t wait to join the team and meet my teammates and to start this journey,” Denkey shared on the program on November 21. “I saw the project and it was an amazing project. When we met it just started to make more sense for me… How ambitious the club was, because honestly Cincinnati is an amazing club.
“For me, I did not expect this to happen so soon the way it did. But when I spoke with them they had a lot of ambition and this is what I want also. I like to win, I like to do my best and so it all fits. Everyone (in Cincinnati) can feel what the club wants to do and I felt it as well when I was there. So I’m sure I made 100% the right decision.”
Robinson’s Role
The praise Albright provided went beyond Denkey’s arrival and helped contextualize the landscape MLS as a league finds itself in, and the place FC Cincinnati finds itself within that universe.
One of the many decisions made last week for the 2025 season was FC Cincinnati exercising Miles Robinson's contract option for the season. The final year on his contract with The Orange and Blue but a continuation of the relationship forged last offseason with the intention of optionality.
What the future holds for Miles Robinson, one of the most praised and recognized center backs in not only MLS, but the world, is still cloaked in mystery in a more grand philosophical sense. He is under contract for 2025 now and that is his final contract year with FCC right now.
But his importance to The Orange and Blue was reaffirmed by Chris Albright.
“We want Miles to be here for a while. He's super important to what we do,” Albright explained. “Miles is elite. He's back in the national team pool pretty squarely. I know he wants to play a little bit more. But again, another guy as far as fit, character wise and just an elite defender…we want him to be here for a while.”
There was public speculation in online-discourse-watering-holes surrounding Robinson’s future with FCC both as a matter of his personal development and his future aspirations. Some, usually underrating FC Cincinnati’s place in the sporting landscape, speculated a move to a European league may be in order for him as, in the past, that was the pathway members of the US Men’s National Team have taken to being selected to the squad. Often to varying degrees of personal success.
But Robinson is a key piece to FC Cincinnati. Albright announced that with little room for ambiguity, but it was made even more clear Monday when the club moved Ian Murphy and Chidozie Awaziem to Colorado Rapids.
Similarly, as a frequent call up to the USMNT, the recent statements by Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino may have changed the way a move of his could be viewed.
“For me I am going to be happy to have most of them playing here in the MLS because I think after (getting) to know the MLS, it is not easy to play here, it's very physical," Pochettino said prior to a Concacaf Nations League match with Jamaica in St. Louis, Missouri. “That is important that they need to know in private but also, they need to know in public. But also the players that will be involved in January [camp], they need to know that if they perform and they convince us and they show the quality, they are going to have the possibility to join us on the national team."
The newly named national team boss essentially goes on to say that the priority for his players is to play regular minutes, rather than sit on the bench in leagues with more prestigious names. Robinson, a world class talent, could (hypothetically) go to many leagues, but the situation in Cincinnati still represents the best one out there for him, especially given the insights Pochettino has provided.
“I think that’s a responsible comment for him to make,” Albright said of Pochettino’s comments as they regard to FCC. “I think highly of our environment. I think that we can develop players and continue to get them better at a rate that happens in Europe. I believe in our coaches, I believe in our infrastructure, and so for him to be supportive of players in MLS, yes, then that gives us more ammunition to be able to go out there and recruit and tell our story.”
“I think we're set up uniquely with a few other markets in MLS, to be able to have an edge on recruiting because a lot of it was built before we got here. So, happy that he's supportive of the same idea.”
