An exciting piece was added to the Crew puzzle today, as Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter confirmed that the Black & Gold were awarded the rights to attacking midfielder Romain Gall via MLS' weighted lottery procedure.
Gall, a dual citizen of the United States and France, was previously playing for French side Lorient. Measuring 5'9" and 140 pounds, the midfielder is originally from Herndon, Virginia and was at one point committed to play college soccer for Maryland.
"We feel like this is a kid with ability," said Berhalter. "19-years-old, great attacking ability, a dynamic part of the [United States] Youth National Team program. We feel like it's a good addition to the team. We're happy and looking forward to bringing him in."
The weighted lottery system is utilized to award the rights of players who either signed a Generation adidas contract after the MLS SuperDraft or for SuperDraft-eligible players to whom an MLS contract was offered but who failed to sign with the League prior to the Draft.
"He was available to every team in the League. A couple of teams put in a request for him," said the Crew boss. "Wil [Trapp's] played with him at times. We watched video, got some feedback – we monitor the Youth National Team programs pretty closely."
Berhalter said that Gall would arrive in Columbus before the week was out. While Berhalter does not necessarily anticipate the 19-year-old making an immediate on-field impact, he is viewed as a strong developmental piece for the Black & Gold.
"We're going to get him into it and get him integrated. We're going to bring him in slowly – not put too much pressure on him to perform, but bring him along the right way.
