LOS ANGELES – Minnesota United history was made on Thursday.
UCLA forward Abu Danladi was selected No. 1 overall by the Loons in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. The MLS expansion team will aim to make a splash in their inaugural season with the contributions of the Ghanaian.
The 21-year-old joins Minnesota United on a Generation adidas deal after playing three years for UCLA. Prior to his arrival, Danladi came to the United States as a 16-year-old in the Right to Dream program, which has also brought the likes of Emmanuel Boateng (LA Galaxy) and Joshua Yaro (Philadelphia Union) to the US, first as students, then student-athletes in college, and once more in Danladi's case, to MLS.
The forward was predictably buzzing following his selection, but said he was in the dark on being the No. 1 pick until showtime.
“I didn’t know until today," he told assembled reporters at the Los Angeles Convention Center. "I didn’t know even until they called my name. It was more like a really big surprise to me.”
Danladi is known as a fast, fearless striker, qualities that immediately attracted Minnesota United to him.
“I love a goalscorer," Minnesota United head coach Adrian Heath told reporters."More importantly, he makes good runs.
"I’m excited, because he’s got that thing you can’t teach – electric pace, very sharp, makes good runs in behind defenders, which some people don’t want to do.”
One of the big questions surrounding Danladi, touted as perhaps the most talented player of the 2017 draft class, was the frequency of his injuries while in college. Both player and head coach addressed those questions at the draft.
"The injuries I got were just mini-injuries, like hamstring injuries that take two or three days because I need to relax my hamstring, because I kept on playing with it. That’s what made it worse. Being in a professional environment, being able to take care of my body right, stretching, doing strengthening work and all that, I think it should not be a factor at all,” Danladi said.
"If we're all being frank, one or two of the issues that were out there were that he'd had a few injuries this year," Heath said. "I don't think the college season lends itself to people like him, who are really explosive and dynamic, playing on a Friday, traveling Saturday, and playing on Sundays."
Danladi noted in his speech on the podium following his selection that his parents could not make the trip from Ghana. When asked about the circumstances surrounding that, he later explained to reporters that his parents were not issued a visa to visit. "It's so hard – visas in Ghana get denied all the time," he said. But he also hoped to bring them to the United States soon, perhaps in time for his first game with Minnesota.
On the day, the Loons say they came away with -- as sporting director Manny Lagos put it -- "a good piece of the puzzle" in drafting Danladi. For his part, Heath was even more glowing.
"If everything falls into place, then we'll probably have the most exciting young player in MLS on our hands," he said.
