TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing
Minnesota United FC have signed forward Abu Danladi for the 2022 MLS season with a club option for 2023, the Loons announced Thursday.
Danladi was a free agent after spending two seasons with Nashville SC. He originally entered MLS in 2017 when Minnesota selected him first overall in that year’s SuperDraft presented by adidas.
“I’m really pleased because I think we as a club, and Abu [Danladi], have a little bit of unfinished business,” head coach Adrian Heath said in a release. “Everybody knows I was really disappointed when we lost him [in the Expansion Draft]. There’s a top player there. I love him as a kid and he’s got great potential.
“People forget that he scored eight goals in his first year as a professional and if we can get him back to playing in that vein of form, then I know we’ve got somebody who can contribute for years to come.”
Danladi, 26, is coming off a 2021 season where he scored one goal across eight substitute appearances (91 minutes) in Nashville. For his MLS career, he has 14 goals and seven assists in 92 matches (31 starts).
The Ghana native, who played collegiately at UCLA, was a finalist for the MLS 2017 Rookie of the Year award. Now, he'll look to revitalize his career in his old stomping grounds.
