One thing that didn’t change when Adrian Heath departed Minnesota United’s front office was the team’s preference to play transfer dealings very, VERY close to the vest. 

The team believes – and not without evidence – that publicizing interest in a player can only make the transfer more difficult. The tradeoff is that while they are assuredly working hard behind the scenes, without a whiff of interest reaching the public sphere, that effort is indistinguishable to fans from them having turned Khaled El-Ahmad’s office into a 24/7 rave complete with David Guetta (shoutout to his family) and a preposterous amount of ketamine.

Fortunately, we have a rumor!

There we have it: Minnesota is allegedly pursuing Silkeborg’s Callum McCowatt. Not every Minnesota United rumor should be taken seriously, but this one I am buying 100%. Why? Two reasons:

1. This is the second consecutive second transfer window where the Loons have been connected to McCowatt
2. He fits the vague guy-we-liked-who-played-well-in-the-World-Cup framework

The 27-year-old attacking midfielder arrived to Silkeborg IF in the Danish Superliga in 2023 following a successful stint with lower division FC Helsingør. In 23/24 and the first part of 24/25, he was a rotational starter for the midtable side, but broke through last year when he started the team’s final 10 league games and the match that put them into the 25/26 Europa Conference League. He would go on to be named Silkeborg’s player of the year for 2025.

Last season, he started 30 of Silkeborg’s 32 games and all four of their Conference League matches, notching 12 goals and five assists. He was the right-sided attacker in their most used formation, a 4-3-2-1, though he slotted in several other places as well. So far this season, he has assists on both of Silkeborg’s goals. 

He played in all three of New Zealand’s World Cup matches, starting two of the three as the Kiwis’ right wing. He wasn’t as impressive as his teammate Elijah Just, but showed well, particularly against Egypt when he put a pair of shots on target and contributed significantly when New Zealand broke forward. Per FotMob, his transfer value sits just a shade above $2 million, while Transfermarkt puts him closer to $3 million.

Digging deeper, one of the things that stands out in McCowatt’s profile is his versatility. He gives Silkeborg — and would give Minnesota — the ability to change the point of attack as defenses adapt. 

He can pass: among attacking and central midfielders, he’s in the 89th percentile for key passes, 79th for progressive passes, and 74th for through balls. 

He can advance the ball himself: Among that same cohort, he’s in the 81st in progressive runs, 84th in successful dribbles, and 97th in accelerations.

He can finish moves himself: No midfielder shot more than he did, he was in the 97th percentile for non-penalty goals and 91st in non-penalty xG, and he shoots hard enough to generate helpful rebounds as he ended up in the 78th percentile for shot-assists. 

In visual form, this:

One small caveat here is that Silkeborg’s formation may be skewing his performance in comparison to other midfielders. In their 4-3-2-1, the top two behind the striker function a bit more like wings than midfielders. So here’s his breakdown looking at the skills a winger needs but comparing him to both wings and attacking midfielders:

The difference here is stark. There are two ways to read the variation here: 

1. The presence of central midfielders in the original cohort makes McCowatt look much more offensively capable than he is. 
2. Because he’s not fully an AM or a wing, he’s being asked to do a wide range of things rather than racking up stats in a few key areas.  

My inclination is that the fullback overlaps that help keep a 4-3-2-1 from getting too narrow are exactly what keeps McCowatt from looking better by comparison here, but it’s absolutely something El-Ahmad et al must be wary of. 

Silkeborg are an attack-first team and McCowatt is at the heart of it. Unfortunately, this is not news to them. Some players are truly not for sale at any price, but that list is perilously small and McCowatt isn’t on it. So ultimately this is a negotiating tactic and an annoying one as it seems to have strained the relationship between the player, the team, and the fans. 

I like what I see from McCowatt; I think he makes the team better and he’s not going to be expensive. The way this transfer is shaping up, however, makes me think that Silkeborg is going to demand more money than McCowatt is worth and take far longer to do it than Minnesota should be willing to wait. 

If it happens, it’s a nice deal, though I don’t see it suddenly vaulting the Loons back into the thick of the Western Conference. I also just don’t think it’s going to happen.