ST. LOUIS — St. Louis CITY SC participated in their first MLS SuperDraft and selected a Missouri native to the team.
The SuperDraft is an annual college draft for Major League Soccer teams to select college students for their clubs.
CITY SC selected Saint Louis University soccer player John Klein as the 30th pick in the draft. Klein is from Columbia, Missouri and has been on SLU's men's soccer team since 2018.
He has played 88 games as a midfielder in his college career with 29 career goals and 27 assists.
During the 2021 season, he led the NCAA in total assists (15) and assists per game (0.75). The 15 assists were the most by an SLU Billiken since 1995. Klein finished the season with 29 points and ranked 12th in the NCAA.
St. Louis CITY SC held the 1st overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft but traded the pick to Charlotte FC in exchange for the 20th overall pick and $200,000 in General Allocation Money in both 2023 and 2024.
They later received the 9th overall pick from the Seattle Sounders FC in exchange for the 59th overall pick and $175,000 in 2023 General Allocation Money.
The 9th overall pick selected by CITY SC was sophomore Owen O'Malley from Creighton University. He helped Creighton reach the 2022 NCAA Tournament College Cup Semifinals.
CITY SC's inaugural season will kick off on Feb. 25, 2023, and their first home game will take place on March 4, 2023.
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