San Diego makes first draft selection in its history, picking up UC Santa Barbara standout Duah
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Duah goes No. 1 in 2025 MLS SuperDraftFloriani and Boltz round out top threeRapids select five players in Round 1Get the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowWHAT HAPPENED?
San Diego FC made the first draft pick in team history by selecting UCSB defensive midfielder Manu Duah as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft.
Standing 6-4, Duah is viewed as a high-potential talent who could contribute immediately, according to San Diego manager Mikey Varas.
"First and foremost, Manu fits the club's key profile," Varas said. "He's a highly talented young player with exceptional character and values."
The top five picks were rounded out by Max Floriani (St. Louis), selected at No. 2 by the San Jose Earthquakes; Dean Boltz (Wisconsin) at No. 3 to the Chicago Fire; Alex Harris (Cornell) at No. 4 to the Colorado Rapids; and Reid Roberts (San Francisco), who stayed in the Bay Area, going to San Jose at No. 5.
The biggest surprise of the draft came when highly touted striker Emil Jaaskelainen, son of former Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, fell to No. 7 with St. Louis CITY SC. Jaaskelainen led NCAA Division I scoring with 23 goals this season.
There were a flurry of trades throughout the draft proceedings, with 13 in total – including five in the first nine picks.
AdvertisementSan Diego FCTHE BIGGER PICTURE
San Diego FC are excited by Duah's potential and expect him to develop into one of the top players in the league.
"With Manu, it was very, very obvious that this is a player with tremendous potential – a player who's already good but can improve a lot," Varas told reporters. "He can be a player who dominates MLS in a few years."
But San Diego wasn't the only focus in the draft, as the Rapids and Real Salt Lake raised eyebrows with the sheer amount of selections made Friday. Colorado picked nine players, including five in the first round: Alex Harris (No. 4, Cornell and Generation adidas), Matthew Senanou (No. 6, Xavier), Efetobo Aror (No. 12, Portland), Sydney Wathuta (No. 16, Vermont), and Joshua Copeland (No. 26, Detroit Mercy).
It continues a recent trend of the Rocky Mountain club emphasizing the draft, where most teams aren't. RSL weren't far behind their rivals, selecting eight players, with four in the first round: Jesus Barea of Missouri State (No. 19), Max Kerkvliet of UConn (No. 21), Lineker Rodrigues Dos Santos of Marshall (No. 29), and Sergi Solans of Oregon State (No. 30).
One other strong note for the league is the increased involvement of MLS Next players being selected in the SuperDraft. Nine of the first 15 selections played in MLS's development league: Duah (No. 1, Santa Barbara Soccer Club), Boltz (No. 3, Sockers FC Chicago), and Roberts (No. 5, Real Colorado) were all selected in the top five.
GettyWHAT DUAH SAID
Duah is a big fan of two soccer stars who currently ply their trade in MLS: Sergio Busquets and his now-teammate Hirving Lozano.
"I want to get to the place that he is, that's the dream. Play just like he did, get to the high level that he did. I'm ready to learn from him, just to know everything, how he got there," Duah said of Lozano. "Everything that he did to get there, I want to be able to do that."
WHAT NEXT FOR MLS?
With the SuperDraft now done, the league turns its focus to the 2025 season. Free agency is ongoing and teams will start kicking off preseason at the start of February.
