San Diego FC's roster build continues with selecting UC Santa Barbra midfielder Manu Duah first overall in the MLS SuperDraft. As an expansion team who will become the 30th team in the league, San Diego was awarded the first overall pick in the draft using it to bolster their growing midfield with the Generation Adidas product.
Duah will join Alex Mighten, Anibal Godoy and Jeppe Tverskov as the midfielders currently under contract for Mikey Varas' team, but with the offseason underway and more picks to come in the draft, that will continue to grow before San Diego takes the pitch for the first time facing the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday, Feb. 23.
"First and foremost Manu fits the profile of the club," Varas said. "He's a high talent young player with amazing character and value. He's a mix between a ball ball-playing midfielder and a number six who is able to help us implement our style of play in terms of taking initiative with the ball but he's also got a tremendous growth mindset and a winning mentality."
Last season Duah started 14 matches, also netting his first college assist. A Ghana native, he joins Christian Ramirez, Michael Boxtall and Emmanuel Boateng as UCSB players currently in Major League soccer. Also spending time in MLS Next for Santa Barbara Soccer Club, Duah helped them reach the MLS Next Cup playoffs in the U19 age group. Modeling his game after Sergio Busquets, Duah wants to help his teams control the tempo of the match and he could have a chance to face his idol depending on how the schedule shakes out in cup competitions or the playoffs.
It will be a step up for the 19-year-old coming to Major Leauge Soccer but this is where San Diego's youth focused approach comes in. As part of the Right to Dream network, San Diego FC is all about helping young players who have the tools to succeed reach their potential and that's where Duah is in a great place to thrive.
Varas notes that it is a step up from college to performing at the pro ranks but that he won't, "limit anyone's story." San Diego's philosophy is to look to win with young players and by giving them support and that's just what will happen with Duah.
San Diego also have raised their spending power making a trade with Charlotte FC to send the ninth overall pick in the draft away for the 17th overall pick and $100 thousand in General Allocation Money. That 17th overall pick became yet another trade to move down in the draft. San Diego collected another $75 thousand in GAM and the 24th overall pick by swapping with New York City FC.
GAM has many uses such as buying down a player's cap charge including buying a designated player below a certain threshold to open the slot for a new one. It can be used to buy down a transfer fee, sign homegrown players or be traded to other clubs. With San Diego's needs in multiple areas of the pitch, these trades will be important moving forward.
First round picks
| Pick | Club | Player | Position | School/Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | San Diego | Manu Duah | Midfielder | University of California Santa Barbara (Generation adidas Class) |
2 | San Jose | Max Floriani | Defender | Saint Louis University |
3 | Chicago | Dean Boltz | Forward | University of Wisconsin (Generation adidas Class) |
4 | Colorado (from SKC) | Alex Harris | Forward | Cornell University (Generation adidas Class) |
5 | San Jose (from NE) | Reid Roberts | Defender | University of San Francisco |
6 | Colorado (from NSH) | Matthew Senanou | Defender | Xavier University |
7 | St. Louis | Emil Jaaskalainen | Forward | University of Akron |
8 | Kansas City (from COL; from PHI) | Jansen Miller | Defender | Indiana University |
9 | Charlotte (from SD; from TOR) | Mikah Thomas | Defender | University of Connecticut |
10 | D.C. United | Hakim Karamoko | Forward | North Carolina State University |
11 | Dallas | Enzo Newman | Defender | Oregon State University |
12 | Colorado (from ATX) | Efetobo Aror | Midfielder | University of Portland |
13 | Montréal | Michael Adedokun | Forward | Ohio State University |
14 | Portland | Ian Smith | Defender | University of Denver |
15 | Vancouver | Tate Johnson | Defender | University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (Generation adidas Class) |
16 | Colorado | Sydney Wathuta | Forward | University of Vermont |
17 | New York City (from SD; from CLT) | Max Murray | Defender | University of Vermont |
18 | New England (from HOU) | Donovan Parisian | Goalkeeper | University of San Diego |
19 | Salt Lake | Jesus Barea | Forward | Missouri State University |
20 | LA (from CIN) | Jason Bucknor | Defender | University of Michigan |
21 | Salt Lake (from CLB) | Max Kerkvliet | Goalkeeper | University of Connecticut |
22 | LAFC (from MIA) | Alec Hughes | Forward | University of Massachusetts |
23 | Toronto (from D.C.; | Reid Fisher | Defender | San Diego State University |
24 | San Diego (from NYC) | Ian Pilcher | Defender | University of North Carolina Charlotte |
25 | Minnesota | Roman Torres | Midfielder | Creighton University |
26 | *Colorado (from VAN; from LAFC) | Joshua Copeland | Forward | University of Detroit Mercy |
27 | Orlando | Joran Gerbet | Midfielder | Clemson University |
28 | Seattle | Ryan Baer | Midfielder | West Virginia University |
29 | RSL | Lineker Rodrigues Dos Santos | Forward | Marshall University |
30 | RSL (from LA) | Sergi Solans | Forward | Oregon State University |