After largely ignoring the continent for years, Major League Soccer teams have finally cottoned on that Africa offers a rich mine of soccer talent. Last week the franchise-in-waiting Seattle Sounders signed Gambian Sanna Nyassi, twin brother of New England’s Sainey, as its third player following Kasey Keller and Sebastien le Toux. Now D.C. United has taken South African midfielder Thabiso Khumalo on a three-month loan from USL2 side the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
The 28-year-old is waiting for a work permit, expected to arrive before the end of the week. He moved to the U.S. on a scholarship and played for a “number of lower level teams” before joining the Riverhounds.
Meanwhile, Cameroonian U-23 international Andongcho Mbuta, 22, has impressed RB New York during a trial, writes Brian Lewis at the New York Post, and the team is hoping to sign him from Crystal Palace Baltimore, also of the USL2. Coach Juan Carlos Osorio expects an announcement “soon,” while sporting director Jeff Agoos said: “We have to work with Crystal Palace, see if we can find some common ground with them and we’ll see what happens.”