LOS ANGELES — With the first pick of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, Minnesota United FC drafted Abu Danladi, an exciting, young forward who will look to feature in his first season. The Loons took Alec Ferrell and Thomas de Villardi with the 23rd and 42nd pick.
There were signs that the Loons might trade their highly coveted pick. The club are looking to secure another starting striker and it’s unclear how that pursuit will fit into an already stacked front line with Abu Danladi joining Christian Ramirez and Femi Hollinger-Janzen.
Indeed, in the 12 hours leading up to the draft, the United technical staff fielded seven to eight phone calls from clubs looking to trade for their top pick.
In the end, Minnesota opted to pick up a player they believe can have an instant impact. Finding starting talent was an important factor for head coach Adrian Heath.
While Jeremy Ebobisse looked to be the favorite for the top pick, Minnesota opted for Danladi’s somewhat more raw athletic talent. Danladi comes to United as a Generation adidas pick, having played three seasons at UCLA. There, he scored 18 goals in 42 matches.
In his speech, the Ghanaian Danladi said that he felt “blessed” that Minnesota put faith in him for the pick.
Minnesota had the 23rd and 43rd picks of the draft and chose Alec Ferrell and Thomas de Villardi.
Alec Ferrell is the first goalkeeper on the roster (if we exclude the brief stint of Jeff Attinella before he was traded away). The Wake Forest grad was a NSCAA First Team All-American in 2016. Ferrell did not play in the MLS combine, but after the draft as-yet-not-announced goalkeeping coach, Marius Rovde, said he was excited about the young keeper. Rovde believes Ferrell was the best keeper available this year, but was overlooked because he was injured and had to miss the final for Wake Forest.
The Loons took the 25th pick from the Chicago Fire who traded it for the top spot in the allocation order, which allowed the Fire to sign Juninho. They traded it to Philadelphia in exchange for $50k in 2018 General Allocation Money and the 42nd overall pick.
With the 42nd pick, Minnesota took defender Thomas de Villardi from the University of Delaware. The Frenchman is something of an unknown, having not even been invited to the MLS combine.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
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