Winger Youness Mokhtar passed up opportunities to play in Europe and the Middle East in order to join the Crew. He was looking for a city, but not a large market, for his young family to have what he would call the “easy life.”

"I had a lot of options, but I really wanted some stability for my family, and that's why I chose for this league,” Mokhtar said last week.

Professionally, it would have been easier for the 27-year-old Morrocan, who had played his entire career on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly in the Netherlands, to join a club in its preseason schedule. Instead, he chose to join the Crew well into the MLS season and to figure out a way to make an impact as soon as possible.

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On Saturday against FC Cincinnati, Mokhtar made his debut and nearly recorded an assist on a near-perfect cross to Gyasi Zardes across the goal. That play, coming off a quick attack — and a great cross from a corner kick to Zardes on the back post — showed why the Crew wanted Mokhtar: He’s a playmaker.

"He's a player who likes to have the ball and create opportunities for us,” midfielder Pedro Santos said. “He's a creative player, so we expect he can help the team score goals.”

Santos and Mokhtar are similar, just opposite footed, and are best on opposite sides of the midfield. They can create space and cut into the middle to create opportunities.

Santos can relate to Mokhtar’s situation, having also transferred in the middle of an MLS season when he joined the Crew in August 2017. Santos said he believes Mokhtar is game fit, but coach Caleb Porter said Mokhtar needs time to get adjusted before being ready to play a complete game.

Mokhtar said he wants to make an impact in the eight remaining games.

"I really try to push also for this season and be important for this season as well,” Mokhtar said. “We try to push it, and I try to get as soon as possible fit for playing the whole game."

The Crew has gotten most of its scoring from two players, Zardes and Santos. The club’s scoring prowess has significantly improved with 10 goals during a five-game unbeaten streak, and Mokhtar should add to that the more he becomes acquainted with his teammates.

“I can score goals and I can make other players score goals,” Mokhtar said.

Mokhtar has made 149 appearances in Eredivisie, the Dutch top league, with two clubs. He played briefly in Norway, Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well.

Though he paid attention to MLS because of a few players from the Netherlands moving there, and Dutch coach Frank de Boer taking over Atlanta United this season, it wasn’t until the Crew signed Eloy Room — whose agent also represents Mokhtar — that he learned about the club and its interest in him.

No conclusion can be drawn from the small sample size of his debut. Still, with just a couple of crosses swung into the penalty area, Mokhtar set the tone for the type of role he can play with the Crew.

“He's going to continue to get better and better as he gets more fit and his work rate continues to evolve,” Porter said.

jmyers@dispatch.com

@Jacob_Myers_25