Minnesota United FC announced on Thursday they have added winger Jose Leiton on loan from Costa Rican side Herediano until July 10, 2018, with a subsequent option to buy.
Leiton, 24, joins after helping Herediano win the Costa Rican top flight league championship last season. He is also a newly-minted Costa Rica international, making his senior team debut for the Ticos in a 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal loss to the US national team last month.
“He’s a dynamic winger who can get the ball on the outside and pull it past defenders — he’s more of an old-fashioned winger in that sense,” said MNUFC head coach Adrian Heath in a team statement. “We think it’s a good opportunity both for the club, between now and the end of the season, and it’s a really good opportunity for Jose. We think he can come in and contribute immediately. The fact that he has a couple Costa Rican teammates here will help settle him into Minnesota.”
Prior to joining Herediano in the summer of 2016, Leiton played for Club Sport Uruguay from 2012-16, with a short stint on loan at Puntarenas in 2015.
