The San Jose Earthquakes have added another European signing this year, announcing on Friday the signing of Swiss defender Francois Affolter on a multi-year contract, pending receipt of his visa and ITC.
The 26-year-old, a center back, joins from Swiss Super League club FC Luzern, where he was a teammate of current Earthquakes midfielder Jahmir Hyka. Affolter made 116 appearances across all competitions for Luzern in three seasons. Previously, he played for Bundesliga side Werder Bremen and Swiss side Young Boys. Affolter is a Swiss international, with five caps to date, and also represented his country at the 2012 London Olympics.
"Having Francois join the club midseason will give us an injection of experience, having played at a high level, and technical ability," said Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli in a statement. "He is a tall, aggressive central defender that will surely boost the club as we push towards the postseason. We can consider ourselves fortunate to have a player of his caliber want to join us as a free agent over other clubs that had interest in him from Europe."
