Minnesota United FC Sign Designated Player Jan Gregus

Minnesota United has announced their first acquisition of the offseason, and it comes at a position of great need.

Slovakian defensive midfielder Jan Gregus will join the Loons as a designated player in 2019. Gregus currently plays for FC Copenhagen of the Danish Superliga. He will leave for Minnesota immediately, to be introduced in January.

“We are getting a really talented player who adds quality to an area of the field where we need to improve,” said United’s Sporting Director, Manny Lagos, in the press release. “Jan has been playing very well for his club and his country and he has great intentions to lift our club. We believe he can be our anchor in the midfield. He is a technical player in the middle of the field who will be a connector both offensively and defensively. He’s the type of player that we need in order to continue the development of our roster and our club.”

At 27 years old, Gregus has picked up 22 caps for the Slovakian national team.

The one thing that sticks out is his composure on the ball,” said Loons’ manager Adrian Heath in the release. “He’s got a great range of passes, both short and long. He has a great stride to goal, and an imposing stature at 6 foot 3 inches. The fact that he’s in his pomp — what we consider his prime — we think we have acquired him at the right time in his career. We know we’ve got excellent attacking pieces on the roster, but we need to be able to supply the ball to those pieces and we feel that Jan can be the supplier and connector from the midfield to the attack.”

“I’m looking forward to trying something new in the USA,” Gregus said in FCK’s release. “Minnesota is a very ambitious club, who has given me a fine offer. It’s an exciting challenge for me to help the club in any possible way.”

Gregus will fill in the Loons’ midfield, though it isn’t clear whether he will play as a defensive midfielder, arguably United’s greatest need.

A source told E Pluribus Loonum that United has already signed several players, Gregus being just the first announcement of the winter.

Further analysis of the Gregus signing will come soon.