The Portland Timbers have transferred goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey to Norwegian club Rosenborg BK.

Kwarasey joined the Timbers as their starting goalkeeper ahead of the 2015 season and made 40 regular season starts during his time in Portland.

The 28-year-old came up with some big saves in his first season with the Timbers, winning MLS Save of the Year in 2015 for an amazing diving stop against Real Salt Lake and converting a penalty before saving a PK from Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jon Kempin to lead the Timbers to a wild shootout victory in the knockout round of the 2015 MLS Cup playoffs.

"On behalf of the Timbers, I would like to sincerely thank Adam for his major contributions to the club, both on and off the field, and for his instrumental role in helping the Timbers win their first MLS Cup," said Timbers General Manager and President of Soccer Gavin Wilkinson in a prepared statement "This transfer gives the Timbers flexibility to strengthen the team and is a move that makes sense for Adam, his family and the Timbers. We wish him all the best in his career."

Kwarasey's last appearance for the Timbers came on April 16 when he injured his finger during a game against the San Jose Earthquakes.

The injury kept Kwarasey off the field until early July and Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson made a statement as the starter in his absence.

Gleeson has made 14 starts since Kwarasey's injury, making 70 saves (second in MLS), recording a goals against average of 1.29 and recording a save percentage of 79.5 during that time.

The 26-year-old has come up with some amazing saves to help the Timbers earn points over the last three months. Gleeson won MLS Player of the Week after making four incredible saves to lead the Timbers to a 2-1 win over Toronto FC on May 1 and Portland has earned all three of its clean sheets in MLS play with Gleeson in the net.

With Gleeson stepping up, it made a lot of sense for the Timbers to transfer Kwarasey.

By moving Kwarasey, the Timbers are freeing up a significant amount of salary cap space that they could use to sign another player this summer or in the offseason. According to the MLS Players Union, Kwarasey was Portland's sixth-highest paid player and the fourth highest-paid goalkeeper in MLS, while Gleeson is making under $100,000 a year.

The Timbers are planning to sign a more experienced goalkeeper to backup Gleeson, but the salary cap space also gives them the means to possibly make a move at another position as well.

Timbers owner Merritt Paulson indicated on Twitter that the club should now have the flexibility to make a move "now or later" to help the team, though he said that it would have to be the "right" move.

The transfer will also give Kwarasey the chance to start for a top team.

Rosenborg, the defending champion of Norway's top-flight Tippeligaen, has won 23 league titles and nine Norwegian Cups.

Kwarasey previously competed in the Tippeligaen, making 154 league appearances over eight seasons with Stromsgodset prior to joining the Timbers.

"I want to thank Adam for his contributions to the club and for helping us win our first major trophy," said Timbers coach Caleb Porter in a prepared statement. "I enjoyed working with him, and he was a top-class professional in his time here. We wish him nothing but the best with his new opportunity."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg