FC Dallas added another young South American on Wednesday, announcing that they’ve signed 20-year-old Ecuadorian left back Anibal Chala.
Chala has been with Ecuadorian top flight side El Nacional since 2013, when he turned pro at the age of 16. He’s logged nearly 9,500 minutes in 116 league appearances for the club, finding the back of the net twice in 2016.
He has six career appearances with Ecuador’s U-20 national team and joins another young Ecuador international, midfielder Carlos Gruezo, on the FCD roster.
“We’ve been watching him for about a year and when you come up with a player like this, who has been with his youth national team and you have an opportunity to grab him, you grab him,” FC Dallas technical director Fernando Clavijo said in a statement released by the club. “This was an area we needed to improve and bring someone in, so it was easy for us to make the decision. There were a lot of teams after him but when you have a countryman like Carlos Gruezo, it will be easier for him to get adjusted. The fans are really going to be excited when they see him play.”
