When he received the offer to join an American expansion club, Roman Bürki recognized the overture for what it was.
An opportunity. And a risk.
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It was the spring of 2022 and St. Louis CITY SC, which was still a year away from fielding a team in Major League Soccer, wanted Bürki to sign on as a signature piece of the club’s future. He had spent the past seven years with Borussia Dortmund in Germany’s famed Bundesliga, but recent seasons left the goalkeeper frustrated. Relegated to back-up duty midway through the 2020-21 campaign in Dortmund, Bürki knew he needed a change. But what kind of change? And where?
“I really thought about, ‘What should I do? What should I do?’” Bürki says. “Training every day for two years and not one game played. I could not do that anymore. I was like, ‘I want something completely different.’”
In St. Louis, Bürki found different—and so much more.
The 32-year-old’s leap of faith has been rewarded (in spades). Not only did Bürki captain CITY to a MLS Western Conference title in its inaugural year, the league announced Thursday that he has been named the 2023 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. Bürki received the honor in a landslide vote, headlining 60.6 percent of player ballots, 70.7 percent of club ballots, and 71.1 percent of media votes to finish ahead of Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano and Orlando’s Pedro Gallese.
CITY fans will remember the highlight saves—Bürki led the league in goals prevented—and the steady leadership he provided from the back. In Burki’s mind, he’ll remember the 2023 season for another reason: It was the year he fell back in love with the sport.
“I found what I was hoping to find here, that joy and fun, and a really good team and good teammates,” Bürki says. “For me, that was one of the most important things, to go find the fun again in soccer.”
The move to sign Bürki, who received $1.6 million in guaranteed compensation and was the league’s highest-paid goalie in 2023, drew criticism—St. Louis is paying how much for a goalkeeper?—before CITY had even played a game. Even Bürki, himself, wondered whether such a move would be best for his career.
“It was a little bit risky,” he says. “Nobody knew how it’s going to turn out, [or] if it’s going to be successful, or if there are going to be problems somehow, somewhere. You never know.”
But Bürki quickly established himself as one of the new club’s most valuable players, stopping tough shots and serving as a durable and trustworthy final line of defense against some of the league’s most explosive scorers.
His 17 wins are the most of any goalie in their first MLS season during the post-shootout era. Meanwhile, Bürki’s 42 goals conceded are the fewest of any goalkeeper to play at least 30 games during an expansion club’s inaugural campaign in a 34-game season. Bürki did it all while earning respect inside St. Louis’ locker room and around the league, serving as the first captain in club history.
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“He is the best goalkeeper in the league, hands down,” defender Jake Nerwinski said last month. “It’s been an honor to play with him. I’ve known him—watching him play [throughout] his career—so I thought it was pretty special that I was able to get the opportunity to be on his team and play with him. He’s been a great leader to us. He single-handedly saved us a lot of points throughout the season.”
And saved his career, too.
Reflecting now, Bürki fondly recalls making the decision to start something new in St. Louis. He was willing to take the risk—and it paid off.
“This was the perfect opportunity,” Bürki says. “I feel really good.”
