Tag Archive for: soccer

Jerome Kiesewetter Set to Join Inter Miami

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In the week before the MLS Expansion Draft, Inter Miami CF have made multiple moves to bolster up their team going into the club’s first year. They’ve now added their 9th player to the official inaugural roster, Jerome Kiesewetter.

Kiesewetter is no stranger to American soccer or joining clubs in their first year as he spent last season with El Paso Locomotive FC in the USL Championship. El Paso’s inaugural year was quite the success. After making it to the Western Conference Semi-Final, their entire season was led by the 12 goals Kiesewetter scored in 28 games. As the top goalscorer, Kiesewetter went through the year looking like a reliable striker when he was healthy. He did battle injury along the way, but he showed consistent form when he returned to the pitch.

At 26 years of age, Kiesewetter’s experience is well surprising. Before playing with Locomotive last year, he was with Fortuna Düsseldorf of the Bundesliga for two years. And years before that he climbed through the ranks of German soccer starting in youth academies and eventually making his way to the first division.

His 17 caps with the US Men’s U-23 side and 2 caps with the National Team, are another great feat in Kiesewetter’s young career. He’s scored a total of 8 goals playing with various US Men’s sides. This, along with top tier soccer in Germany, seem to prove as worthy experience as Beckham looks to bring in goal scoring threats to his first Inter Miami side.

Inter Miami also went on to acquire Grant Lillard, an experienced MLS defender before the Expansion Draft that takes place this Tuesday. With nine players set to already join, and a potential five more to be added Tuesday, the roster has finally taken shape.

Fans now wait for the much anticipated coach and “star” to be announced.

 

Meet Inter Miami’s Three Newest Players

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Inter Miami CF have been busy the last 48 hours when it comes to bringing players down to South Beach, or Fort Lauderdale for now. They’ve gone on to acquire three players as well as  the first pick in Stage 1 of MLS Re-Entry draft. Victor Ulloa, Drake Callender, and Jay Chapman have all been acquired as we are now starting to see a real roster being built leading up to the Expansion Draft.

Victor Ulloa, a defensive midfielder who has been in the league since 2011, makes his way from FC Cincinnati by way of trade to Inter Miami. Ulloa has had a very respectable career in the MLS as his long tenure in Toronto earned him over 150 games played. At 27, he is, for now, the oldest player on the roster, as well as the one with the most MLS experience by miles, so the  club will be looking at him to bring that veteran presence as he commands the midfield. 

Inter then acquired homegrown rights to Drake Callender, a goalkeeper who currently is playing at the University of California. Inter did give away a second round pick in the 2020 MLS Superdraft for him, so there’s a lot to be told about his talent. He’s kept 15 clean sheets in 52 games for his school, been with the San Jose Earthquakes academy for 6 years, and he also received an invitation to the US’s U-23 training camp in September. His homegrown rights being with Inter are important as the club looks to build for now as well as the future, but still look for that first choice keeper to come along either in the Expansion Draft or later.

And most recently, Jay Chapman is headed over to Miami from Toronto FC. At 25 years old, Chapman has earned himself a couple of international appearances with the Canadian National team, and is now being brought over from the MLS Runners-up to take up a central-midfield role. Chapman and Ulloa will be the only two players so far that are coming straight from an MLS side. They’ll both be joining David Norman Jr. as the first couple of players with league experience.  

These three, Ulloa, Callender, and Chapman, are the final players coming into the team until the MLS Expansion Draft on November 19th. Waivers and free agency will commence six days later, and of course then the international transfer market window will open on January 1st. There’s a lot to look forward to as an Inter supporter with the incoming players, the building progression of the clubs first home at Lockhart, and then the first home game being announced (vs. LA Galaxy, March 14). The start of Miami’s first MLS side is in full swing.

Inter Miami gets first big win

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As incoming teams, Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC both took part in the Expansion Priority draft in New York City today.

As results of a coin toss, the clubs would alternate picks choosing five different ways to help start building their teams.

  1. Number 1 pick in 2019 MLS Expansion Draft
  2. Number 1 pick in 2020 MLS SuperDraft
  3. Number 1 position in Allocation Ranking Order
  4. Penultimate position in MLS Re-Entry and End-of-year Waiver Order
  5. Penultimate position in Discovery Player Ranking

The coin flip was in Inter Miami’s favor, and the club walked away from New York City with both the first pick in the Expansion Draft and the first pick in the SuperDraft. They’ll be able to secure their most favored target with MLS experience and also take their top ranked rookie, barring any trades.

 

Inter Miami have already started building up their roster and have been linked to some major moves. With top priority in both of these drafts, the pieces seem to be falling well for Inter in its inaugural season.

 

The 2019 MLS Expansion Draft will take place on November 19th where both Inter Miami and Nashville will be coming away with up to five players from teams already in the MLS (Exempt teams are D.C. United, Vancouver Whitecaps, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, and the New York Red Bulls.) Only 12 players are allowed to be protected by each team, so it seems almost a sure thing MLS proven talent will be headed to South Beach.

 

Silva signing shows Inter Miami roster coming together

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The Independent has reported that Inter Miami CF are likely to sign David Silva. From the beginning the club was almost built off the idea that they would bring in at least one major name to be the face of the franchise.

David Silva, a World Cup winner and recent Premier League champion, and someone who at the age of 33 played in over 40+ games for the champions of English soccer, is an ideal place to start.

Since 2010, Silva has been a dominant player for Manchester City whos been very consistent at the highest level.

After his arrival from Valencia, City have won four Premier League titles with Silva making a major impact every year. He’s a creative midfielder who excels at keeping the ball at his feet and is one to make all the right passes.

If Silva joins Inter Miami, owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas will be looking to build a team around his quality midfield abilities.

That team that will allegedly be around Silva has already taken shape. Matias Pellegrini, Julián Carranza, Christian Makoun, David Norman Jr. and Miami Native George Acosta are the first five official signings, with Pellegrini being the first reported designated player for Inter. Silva would likely take up the second of the three DP spots on the roster.

A designated player on an MLS roster is one whose earnings do not count fully towards the salary budget. The MLS allows teams up to three players per roster to be these said designated players, and clubs will use these spots for known stars and incoming young talent.

In Pellegrini’s case, he will be considered a young designated player, and the salary charged to the budget will be $150,000. For someone like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who will make over $7 million this year from LA Galaxy, the club’s salary budget is only charged $480,625. The MLS salary budget for the clubs senior roster, up to 20 players, is $4,240,000.

At 19 years of age, Matias Pellegrini will be joining Inter Miami from Estudiantes, an Argentine first division side. In his first season with Estudiantes he was responsible for 4 goals and 1 assist in 19 games. He’s a young talent who is bound to be developed by Inter, and he’ll have to look forward to playing on the left wing next to Julián Carranza, who happens to be Argentine as well.

Also 19, Julián Carranza is heading to Miami from Club Atlético Banfield, another Argentine first division side. Carranza is a young talent who worked his way up from Banfield’s U20 side all the way to the first team in a matter of a couple years.

The last two seaons, Carranza has played in a total of 32 games for Banfield, and has managed to slot in 19 goals and give off 9 assists on top of that. An extremely impressive record at any level of football. He’ll look to be that goal scoring threat for Inter come 2020.

Christian Makoun, another 19 year old (are we seeing a pattern here?), is a center back who will be coming over to South Florida after playing with Juventus in Italy, and Zamora, a club from his home country of Venezuela.

This was Inter Miami’s first defensive signing, and like their first pair of players, will look to be developed as a young star in the club’s early years.

The first North American acquisition for Inter happens to be a Canadian International whos currently on loan at Pacific FC.

David Norman Jr. plays in the Canadian Premier League, but has been on the mainstage of the MLS whilst playing for Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The 21 year old is a known attacking midfield player, whos had 3 appearances for the Canadian U23 side.

And with the clubs most recent signing, they’ve decided to sign yet another 19 year old player, George Acosta. A United States international whos hometown happens to be Miami, Acosta will be headed over from Austin Bold FC, a USL Championship club. Acosta has spent time in Argentina playing with Boca Juniors, and scored a goal in the U17 World Cup with the US.

It seems as though youth is the priority here, and the five officially announced young players will be joining Inter Miami CF in January 2020.

If David Silva were to sign, he’d likely miss a couple of months of the season as the Premier League would be in full swing come January. A mid season transfer for Silva in the Summer Window of 2020 is something for Inter fans to really get excited for. If not, youth talent and the conception of an MLS club in South Florida has already seemed to do the trick.