The New York Red Bulls officially got themselves a steal.
The club announced on Saturday that they'd inked UCLA midfielder Leo Stolz, who was taken with the No. 18 pick in Thursday's SuperDraft, to a contract. As per team and league policy, details of the contract were not disclosed.
Stolz, a native of Munich, Germany, spent the last three years at UCLA, including two as the Bruins captain. The attacking midfielder compiled 20 goals and 22 assists in 63 NCAA appearances. Last week, he was named the 2014 MAC Hermann Award winner, which recognizes college soccer's best player.
"In the soccer community, many consider Leo to be the best player in this draft," said Red Bulls sporting director Ali Curtis in a team press release. "We are excited to welcome such an accomplished player to the Red Bull family. We're confident that our environment, coupled with Jesse Marsch's coaching and leadership, will allow Leo to reach his full potential as a player."
Stolz, who has represented the German national team at the youth level, was widely expected to be a top pick in the draft until he made clear his intentions to forego MLS should he be picked for any team outside of New York or Los Angeles. The attacking midfielder, who turned down a pro contract from 1860 Munich when he was 18, had been in Germany on trial before reaching out to the RBNY braintrust before the draft.
“Leo reached out to us in the past week and told us that he is very interested in Red Bull,” Marsch said in a statement earlier in the week. “Although he had not shown interest in signing with the league that, because of, partly our connection with Salzburg … and partly, he wanted to play in New York.’’
