Breaking down FC Cincinnati's wild 2018 MLS Expansion Draft | OneFootball

On Tuesday evening, FC Cincinnati continued to build their roster for their inaugural season in Major League Soccer by selecting five players in the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft.

However, the real headlines came with a pair of draft-day trades, as FC Cincinnati sent $250,000 in Targeted Allocation Money and $200,000 in General Allocation Money to Atlanta United in exchange for 2017 MLS All-Star and United States international midfielder Greg Garza.

The deal was announced by FC Cincinnati manager Alan Koch during the league’s live broadcast following the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft.

In 2018, Garza started every post-season match for Atlanta United en route to an MLS Cup title in just the club’s second year in existence.

In addition, FC Cincinnati traded away their second pick in the expansion draft, high-priced forward Kei Kamara, to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for an international roster spot, which gives Cincinnati a total of nine open spots for international players to occupy in 2019.

At the moment, FC Cincinnati now has 16 players, including 11 players they have brought up from last season’s United Soccer League (USL) roster.

2018 MLS Expansion Draft Results:

1. Darren Mattocks – Forward, drafted from D.C. United

Mattocks, 28, scored a career-high 10 goals last season despite seeing his minutes heavily reduced after Wayne Rooney’s arrival.

The Jamaican has also scored 14 goals in 42 appearances at the international level.

This is Mattocks’ fourth club in the last four seasons, having played with D.C. United, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Portland Timbers since 2016.

Mattocks has scored 34 goals and provided 11 assists in 161 career MLS appearances (89 starts).

2. Kei Kamara – Forward, drafted from Vancouver Whitecaps

(Traded to Colorado Rapids in exchange for an international roster spot)

3. Roland Lamah – Midfielder, drafted from FC Dallas

Lamah, 30, has been a major contributor since his arrival from Hungarian side Ferencváros in December 2016.

The midfielder has also been capped five times by Belgium at the international level.

Lamah has experience in the Europa League and the English Premier League with Swansea City, as well as experience in La Liga with Osasuna and Ligue 1 with Le Mans.

Lamah’s option with FCD was declined following the 2018 season as FCC will acquire the rights to negotiate with him.

Lamah has scored 19 goals and provided nine assists in 61 career MLS appearances (50 starts) with FC Dallas.

4. Eric Alexander – Defender/Midfielder, drafted from Houston Dynamo

Alexander, 30, will be joining his sixth MLS club since being drafted in the third round of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.

Alexander has been capped twice by the United States at the international level and won the Supporters’ Shield in 2013 with the New York Red Bulls. He also helped guide Houston Dynamo to the 2018 U.S. Open Cup title.

He has previously played for FC Dallas, Portland Timbers, New York Red Bulls, Montreal Impact, and Houston Dynamo.

Alexander has made 212 career MLS appearances (161 starts), scoring nine goals and contributing 24 assists.

5. Hassan Ndam – Defender, drafted from New York Red Bulls

Ndam, 20, is an extremely promising centre-back who FC Cincinnati saw plenty of in the USL last season.

In addition to being nominated for USL Young Player of the Year with the NYRB II squad, the 6-foot-4 Cameroonian youth international started 29 matches with the second-division side and was ranked 16th on the USL’s 20-under-20 list this season.

Ndam made a brief MLS cameo in 2017 and went the full 90 minutes against Columbus Crew back in June in his only other MLS appearance.