The New England Revolution said they had additional moves planned this summer, and on Monday, they pulled the trigger on one, acquiring former US youth international forward Tony Taylor through a weighted lottery.
The Revs were one of two teams who entered the lottery, along with Portland, and New England had a 71.4 chance of winning the draw. He will be added to the Revolution’s roster following the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate.
“Tony is a younger player who will come in and add to the competition already on our team,” Revolution general manager Michael Burns said in a statement. “He has some speed and is versatile in that he can play up top or out wide on the right. We’ll look forward to get him in as soon as possible and integrated into the team.”
Taylor, 25, comes to Major League Soccer following a four-year professional career outside of North America. After a two-year collegiate career at South Florida and Jacksonville, he began his professional career with Portugal’s GD Estoril Praia and made his debut for the club in April 2010. After scoring twice in five appearances for Estoril in his first season with the club, he doubled his goal tally in his first full season with the club in 2010-11, scoring four times in 20 games in all competitions.
Originally from Long Beach, Calif., Taylor spent the first half of the following season on loan with fellow Portuguese Segunda Liga club Atletico Clube Portugal, scoring three times in 10 matches before returning to Estoril for the second half of the season where he helped the club win the league and earn promotion with two goals in seven games. Playing in the Primeira Liga for the first time, Taylor made 13 appearances for Estoril in the 2012-13 season, scoring once.
Taylor spent the 2013-14 season playing in the Cypriot First Division for Omonia Nikosia. He appeared in 20 games in all competitions, including each of their games in the second qualifying round of the 2013-14 UEFA Europa League. He scored three times in 13 league appearances, with two of the three goals coming in a road win over Doxa Katokopias.
A member of the US squad that played at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, Taylor started and appeared in all three games that Thomas Rongen’s team played in during the tournament, scoring the eventual game-winning goal in a 4-1 win over Cameroon.
Overall, he made 11 appearances – all starts – with the U-20s, scoring two goals and adding four assists. He was also a member of the US Under-23 squad at the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.
The move comes less than a week after New England acquired forward Andre Akpan from New York in exchange for Saer Sene. The Revs also have expressed interest in signing out-of-contract US World Cup veteran Jermaine Jones, who also has an offer on the table from Chicago.
