San Jose Earthquakes General Manager Chris Leitch was happy in his first MLS SuperDraft in charge of the team after selecting Stanford forward Ousseni Bouda with the eighth pick and Clemson defender Oskar Agren with the thirteenth pick in the first round.
“We’re very excited about the potential of our draft class this year,” said Earthquakes General Manager Chris Leitch. “Ousseni and Oskar were two of the highest-rated players on our board, so to select them both leaves us feeling good about our process.”
Bouda, 21, grew up in Burkina Faso, played two seasons for the Stanford Cardinals, scoring ten goals and contributing fourteen assists in thirty-nine starts for the team, and finished on the All Pac-12 team this past year.
“I’m excited to come in as early as I can and just get to work,” Bouda said in a press conference shortly after being selected, noting the Quakes are the team he is most familiar with in the MLS since he played collegiately a short distance away.
“Honestly, I was really hoping I could get on a team like this,” he added. “I knew they were interested and they knew more about me than other teams since they got to see me play so many times.”
Asked where he prefers to play on the pitch, Bouda noted that can play any attacking position on the field but prefers to play out wide.
“Fans can expect from me a player that’s lively has a lot of speed, can take players on, and brings a lot of creativity in front of the goal,” he explained.
Bouda signed a Generation Adidas contract before the MLS draft. Players who are part of Generation Adidas do not count against the salary restrictions of MLS teams and earn more money than the MLS minimum rookie salary.
Club trades for 13th pick, takes defender Oskar Ågren
Oskar Ågren was a starting defender for Clemson University last year when they captured the NCAA College Cup. A native of Sweden, his play earned him a College Soccer News First Team All-American nod, and he finished as a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the top college player in the NCAA.
During his senior year, he helped lead the Tigers defense to only allow .8 goals a game while collecting ten clean sheets in twenty-three games. Offensively, he also added five goals and two assists.
San Jose acquired the 13th pick in a trade with DC United in exchange for a second-round pick and $100 thousand in General Allocation Money.
One more Tiger selected by San Jose: John Martin
San Jose later added Ågren’s defensive teammate, John Martin, in the third round. Martin played all four years for Clemson and started thirteen of his thirty-eight games for the Tigers.
Quakes sign Stanford’s Will Richmond to MLS Homegrown contract
A day before the MLS draft, the Earthquakes signed Stanford’s Will Richmond to a Homegrown player contract.
A San Francisco native, Richmond was part of the Quakes Academy from 2016-2018 before playing his college ball for Stanford as a midfielder where he helped the team win two national championships.
“Will is a player we’ve kept our eye on for several years and we’re happy with the strides he’s made in college,” said Earthquakes General Manager Chris Leitch. “We’re confident he would have been selected very early in the upcoming MLS SuperDraft and we’re excited to help him transition to the pro game in 2022.”
He is signed for the 2022 season, with team options until 2025. Richmond is the ninth Quakes Academy player to be signed by the club’s senior side.
