Minnesota United announced Friday the signing of Saint Louis Park native Emmanuel Iwe, a 22-year-old midfielder who has practiced and played with the organization’s reserve team.
“This is just the beginning,” coach Adrian Heath said in a news release. “Now it’s up to him to try and get better every single day to make his way into the squad. It means a lot to people to see local kids put the [club] shirt on, and hopefully he can be a catalyst for some of these other local guys to go, ‘Hey, we can do it. We’re from here, we can play in MLS for Minnesota United.'”
Iwe, who was added to the MNUFC2 roster following an open tryout in January of 2022, agreed to a one-year MLS contract that included club options in 2024, 2025 and 2026. He is the first MNUFC2 player to sign a long-team deal with the Minnesota United: Iwe has appeared in a number of Loons friendlies and league games, having signed several short-term agreements since March.
“It’s a credit to [Emmanuel] for putting himself out there in the first place,” MNUFC2 coach Cameron Knowles said in the news release. “Coming to an open tryout is never easy and then taking the opportunities that have come his way. The first team staff and [MNUFC technical director] Mark Watson saw him in that first tryout and have continued to be invested in his progress, too, which is a testament to the opportunity which they have here.”
As an 11-game starter for the MNUFC2 in the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro league, Iwe scored four goals with nearly 800 minutes logged.
Across 16 appearances and 13 starts in 2022, Iwe tallied a couple of goals and assists before he suffered a season-ending ligament tear in his right foot in August.
Iwe was born in Nigeria but grew up in Saint Louis Park where he graduated from the local high school in 2019. He briefly played for first-division Saprissa FC through the first months of 2020 before his lone season at St. Cloud State University, a Division III program, in 2021.
His 16 points, six goals and four assists for the Huskies earned him second-team All-GLIAC honors.