As Minnesota United began preseason on Monday, there was a mix of new faces and old. The club started with 16 players officially announced, but reached 22 by the end of Tuesday in addition to a large group of trialists.
Most notably, the Loons completed the signing of Finnish midfielder, Rasmus Schüller from Swedish side BK Häcken. Previous reporting from Jeffrey Carlisle said that the transaction would likely be a TAM-level signing with a transfer fee in the neighborhood of $750,000. A spokesperson for Minnesota United confirmed, however, that no TAM was used in this signing. Update: Minnesota United has corrected this statement and now they say that TAM was used in this transaction.
Check out our previous reporting on Schüller’s scouting report.
With Schüller’s work permit secured, he will now join up with his new teammates in Arizona.
On Tuesday, the Loons also announced two additional signings: Bernardo Añor and Jermaine Taylor. Añor returns to United after having spent last season on loan with Minnesota. Unfortunately, the 28-year-old midfielder saw his playing time significantly hampered by an ankle injury, seeing fewer than 450 minutes for the Loons.
Jermaine Taylor comes to Minnesota from the Portland Timbers, where he was a regular center back for the club. Taylor joins a very deep center back pool for the Loons with Francisco Calvo, Joe Greenspan, Vadim Demidov, and Brent Kallman at the position. However, Taylor can also play right back, a position where Minnesota previous had one natural option in Kevin Venegas.
On Monday, Minnesota United announced the return of two Loons: center back Brent Kallman and midfielder Ibson.
Trialists
A large group of trialists has also joined the club in preseason, including some familiar faces such as Tiago Calvano, Sammy Ndjock, Lance Laing, and Ismaila Jome. Calvano and Ndjock would be surprise signings since the club appears to be at its cap for international players. However, Jome is expected to sign for the club very soon.
The other trialists are: Charlie Lyon, Marco Carducci, Andrew Tinari, Raul Gonzalez, Duke LaCroix, Eugene Starikov, and David Goldsmith.
Most notably from this group are Marco Carducci and Eugene Starikov. Carducci was previously considered a goal keeping prospect for the Vancouver Whitecaps and previously played under Minnesota United’s new goalkeeping coach Marius Rovde, but was recently let go by the Cascadia club. Starikov is a Ukranian American who was on Zenit St. Petersburg’s books for years, though he spent that entire time out on loan.
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