Charlotte FC came away with three players and $900k in allocation money to use in roster building after the Major League Soccer Expansion Draft held on Tuesday. It's a strong haul for a team that's a bit over two months away from its inaugural match at D.C. United on Feb. 26.
The team has already been busy constructing its roster with sporting director Zoran Krneta and new coach Miguel Angel Ramirez scouring the continent — and the globe — for players to build out the squad (updated roster below). In the Expansion Draft they had the chance to pick five players from a pool of 258 players who were left unprotected by their MLS teams (see full list below).
The new club opted to keep No. 1 pick McKinze Gaines, a talented 23-year-old forward who just concluded his first season in MLS after starting his career in Germany. The other players who will stick on the roster are experienced defenders Anton Walkes and Joseph Mora, who are both versatile enough to occupy multiple roles on the back line and even in midfield, if necessary.
But on top of adding players to its roster, Charlotte FC also leveraged it to acquire cash (allocation money) by selecting and later trading players who were on the wish list of other clubs. In trades executed after the Expansion Draft, Charlotte FC cashed in on its No. 4 and No. 5 picks, trading defender Tristan Blackmon to Vancouver and transferring winger Ismael Tajouri-Shradi to LAFC for a combined $900k in allocation money which can be used to acquire players and pay down contracts to fit under the salary budget.
"It's flexibility. It gives us the chance to slowly continue building the squad and gives us the flexiblity to pick the players we really want to pick," Krneta said on the draft broadcast about the cash acquired. "It gives us a kind of independence where we are in control, rather than the players or the agents or other clubs."
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Charlotte FC Expansion Draft Picks
* = Players traded after the Expansion Draft
| Pick | Player | Position | Former club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | McKinze Gaines | FW | Austin FC |
| 2. | Anton Walkes | DF | Atlanta United |
| 3. | Joseph Mora | DF | D.C. United |
| 4. | Tristan Blackmon* | DF | LAFC |
| 5. | Ismael Tajouri-Shradi** | FW | NYCFC |
* Charlotte trades Tristan Blackmon to the Vancouver Whitecaps for nearly $500,000 in Generla Allocation Money ($350,000 in 2022 and $125,000 in 2023)
** Charlotte trades Ismael Tajouri-Shradi to LAFC for $400,000 in General Allocation Money
Charlotte FC 2022 Roster
Updated as of Dec. 14
- Goalkeepers (1): Pablo Sisniega
- Defenders (7): Adam Armour, Christian Fuchs, Corujo Guzman, Jaylin Lindsey, Joseph Mora, Jan Sobocinski, Anton Walkes
- Midfielders (4): Jordy Alcivar, Brandt Bronico, Riley McGree, Sergio Ruiz
- Forwards (2): McKinze Gaines, Vinicius Mello
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How the MLS Expansion Draft works
According to league rules, five clubs were exempt from having their rosters exposed to the Expansion Draft, since they lost players in last year's edition to Austin FC. Those five clubs were the LA Galaxy; Nashville SC; NY Red Bulls; Orlando City; and San Jose Earthquakes.
The rest of the 22 MLS teams were only able to protect up to 12 of their players, exposing the rest for possible selection by Charlotte in the Expansion Draft (complete rules here).
Charlotte FC could only pick a single player from any one team's unprotected list. And any team that had a player claimed from its roster will be granted $50,000 in general allocation money from the league as compensation.
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Expansion Draft Eligible Players (Unprotected List)
The following 258 players were left unprotected by their teams and are available for selection by Charlotte FC in the Dec. 14 Expansion Draft (bold and asterisk indicate player selected by Charlotte FC):
Atlanta United (14)
- Mo Adams
- Mikey Ambrose
- Joshua Bauer
- Jurgen Damm
- Alex De John
- Ronald Hernandez
- Emerson Hyndman
- Alec Kann
- Erik Lopez
- Ben Lundgaard
- Jake Mulraney
- Amar Sejdic
- Erick Torres
- Anton Walkes*
Austin FC (14)
- McKinze Gaines*
- Jon Gallagher
- Danny Hoesen
- Hector Jimenez
- Freddy Kleemann
- Kekuta Manneh
- William Pulisic
- Aaron Schoenfeld
- Brady Scott
- Ulises Segura
- Aedan Stanley
- Jared Stroud
- Ben Sweat
- Andrew Tarbell
Chicago Fire (8)
- Robert Beric
- Francisco Calvo
- Elliot Collier
- Johan Kappelhof
- Kenneth Kronholm
- Alvaro Medran
- Bobby Shuttleworth
- Luka Stojanovic
FC Cincinnati (14)
- Edgar Castillo
- Allan Cruz
- Chris Duvall
- Jonas Fjeldberg
- Avionne Flanagan
- Joseph-Claude Gyau
- Yuya Kubo
- Ben Lundt
- Kamohelo Mokotjo
- Caleb Stanko
- Przemyslaw Tyton
- Florian Valot
- Maikel van der Werff
- Kenneth Vermeer
Colorado Rapids (10)
- Dominique Badji
- Steven Beitashour
- Clint Irwin
- Jeremy Kelly
- Nicolas Mezquida
- Drew Moor
- Younes Namli
- Andre Rawls
- Diego Rubio
- Collen Warner
Columbus Crew (13)
- Saad Abdul-Salaam
- Harrison Afful
- Evan Bush
- Eric Dick
- Waylon Francis
- Marlon Hairston
- Erik Hurtado
- Perry Kitchen
- Grant Lillard
- Kevin Molino
- Joshua Williams
- Vito Wormgoor
- Bradley Wright-Phillips
FC Dallas (7)
- Bryan Acosta
- Bressan
- Caiser Sergio Gomes
- Phelipe Megiolaro
- Andres Ricaurte
- Freddy Vargas
- Kyle Zobeck
D.C. United (15)
- Ramon Abila
- Yamil Asad
- Jovanny Bolivar
- Frederic Brillant
- Michael DeShields
- Jon Kempin
- Felipe Martins
- Joseph Mora*
- Junior Moreno
- Chris Odoi-Atsem
- Yordy Reyna
- Chris Seitz
- Drew Skundrich
- Kimarni Smith
- Erik Sorga
Houston Dynamo (15)
- Mateo Bajamich
- Jose Bizama
- Darwin Ceren
- Joe Corona
- Maynor Figueroa
- Alejandro Fuenmayor
- Oscar Garcia
- Ian Hoffmann
- Ariel Lassiter
- Nico Lemoine
- Marko Maric
- Kyle Morton
- Michael Nelson
- Darwin Quintero
- Maximiliano Urruti
Sporting Kansas City (5)
- Amadou Dia
- Luis Martins
- Roberto Puncec
- Ilie Sanchez
- Graham Smith
LAFC (14)
- Jamal Blackman
- Tristan Blackmon*
- Daniel Crisostomo
- Raheem Edwards
- Julian Gaines
- Francisco Ginella
- Jordan Harvey
- Sebastien Ibeagha
- Caleb Jennings
- Danny Musovski
- Michee Ngalina
- Alvaro Quezada
- Diego Rossi
- Mohamed Traore
Inter Miami (13)
- George Acosta
- Ventura Alvarado
- Dylan Castanheira
- Jay Chapman
- Sami Guediri
- Joevin Jones
- Kelvin Leerdam
- Blaise Matuidi
- John McCarthy
- Joshua Penn
- Patrick Seagrist
- Ryan Shawcross
- Brek Shea
Minnesota United FC (17)
- Fanendo Adi
- Juan Agudelo
- Osvaldo Alonso
- Noah Billingsley
- Thomas Chacon
- Ethan Finlay
- Jan Gregus
- Niko Hansen
- Brent Kallman
- Nabi Kibunguchy
- Justin McMaster
- Romain Metanire
- Callum Montgomery
- Jukka Raitala
- Joseph Rosales
- D.J. Taylor
- Adrian Zendejas
CF Montreal (10)
- Sebastian Breza
- Rudy Camacho
- Bjorn Johnsen
- Mustafa Kizza
- Ismael Kone
- Emanuel Maciel
- Aljaz Struna
- Ballou Tabla
- Robert Thorkelsson
- Victor Wanyama
New England Revolution (11)
- Emmanuel Boateng
- Luis Caicedo
- Scott Caldwell
- A.J. DeLaGarza
- Earl Edwards Jr.
- Wilfrid Kaptoum
- Edward Kizza
- Brad Knighton
- Christian Mafla
- Arnor Traustason
- Collin Verfurth
New York City FC (12)
- Malte Amundsen
- Vuk Latinovich
- Jesus Medina
- Alexandru Mitrita
- Cody Mizell
- Maximiliano Moralez
- Tony Rocha
- Ismael Tajouri-Shradi*
- Gudmundur Thorarinsson
- Anton Tinnerholm
- Juan Pablo Torres
- Gedion Zelalem
Philadelphia Union (10)
- Matheus Davo
- Joe Bendik
- Jesus Bueno
- Cory Burke
- Aurelien Collin
- Stuart Findlay
- Ilsinho
- Matej Oravec
- Gino Portella
- Alvas Powell
Portland Timbers (14)
- Jeff Attinella
- Pablo Bonilla
- Steve Clark
- George Fochive
- Jorge Gonzalez
- Aljaz Ivacic
- Ismaila Jome
- Larrys Mabiala
- Zac McGraw
- Manny Perez
- Andy Polo
- Diego Valeri
- Josecarlos Van Rankin
- Renzo Zambrano
Real Salt Lake (10)
- Toni Datkovic
- Everton Luiz
- Douglas Martinez
- Justin Meram
- Ashtone Morgan
- Justin Portillo
- Noah Powder
- Andrew Putna
- Jeizon Ramirez
- Donny Toia
Seattle Sounders (11)
- Nicolas Benezet
- Will Bruin
- Abdoulaye Cissoko
- Stefan Cleveland
- Jordy Delem
- Fredy Montero
- Shane O'Neill
- Spencer Richey
- Kelyn Rowe
- Brad Smith
- Andrew Thomas
Toronto FC (8)
- Nick DeLeon
- Dom Dwyer
- Tsubasa Endoh
- Omar Gonzalez
- Kemar Lawrence
- Patrick Mullins
- Kevin Silva
- Eriq Zavaleta
Vancouver Whitecaps (13)
- Bruno Gaspar
- Derek Cornelius
- David Egbo
- Janio Bikel
- Marcus Godinho
- Erik Godoy
- Florian Jungwirth
- Jasser Khmiri
- Evan Newton
- Leonard Owusu
- Tosaint Ricketts
- Andy Rose
- Russell Teibert
