Star Tribune: Bongokuhle Hlongwane's hybrid role
Feb 17, 2025
As Minnesota United opens its season Saturday, there are still some questions to be answered.
For one: what are we going to call Bongokuhle Hlongwane’s position?
Star Tribune: 2026 World Cup looms large for Loons players in 2025
Feb 13, 2025
There is barely one week left until the opening of the 2025 MLS season, but it’s no secret that North American soccer already has 2026 on its mind.
The USA, Mexico and Canada are hosting next summer’s World Cup, and all of MLS is looking at the tournament as an opportunity — just like USA ‘94, when record attendances and FIFA pressure helped birth the league itself, albeit not until 1996.
And if you think it’s not already on the minds of the Loons’ international stars, Tani Oluwaseyi put that to rest. The striker, who signed a contract extension in the offseason, had Team Canada chief in his mind when putting pen to paper. “I think just looking at my future and where I want to be, especially in terms of thinking about the 2026 World Cup, I felt like this is the best place for me,” he said.
Star Tribune: MNUFC signs Owen Gene and announces Leagues Cup schedule
Feb 12, 2025
Minnesota United’s youth movement continued on Tuesday with the signing of 21-year-old central midfielder Owen Gene, from Amiens SC in the French second division.
Gene is a tall, rangy defensive midfielder, and will occupy a U22 Initiative and international spot on the Loons roster. Despite his youth, he’s already played more than 100 games for the Amiens first team.
Star Tribune: MNUFC wins in preseason as they try out a different setup
Feb 11, 2025
As preseason experiments go, it’s hard to beat Minnesota United’s attempt at playing with two strikers.
On Sunday in their first of three exhibition games at the Coachella Valley Invitational in California, the Loons played with Kelvin Yeboah and Tani Oluwaseyi up front against a less-than-full-strength team from Sporting Kansas City.
By halftime, it was 5-0 Minnesota; at the end, it was 6-0, and both Oluwaseyi and Yeboah had scored twice.
Star Tribune: The Loons now have two South Koreans
Feb 8, 2025
Even after just a few days, it’s tempting to think of Minnesota United’s Korean duo as some kind of unit.
After all, Sang Bin Jeong and Hoyeon Jung are not only just the sixth and seventh South Koreans to play in Major League Soccer, but they are also the first two to play on the same team at the same time. They even have the same surname, though they spell it differently in English.
The similarities might end there.
Star Tribune: Khaled El-Ahmad says Hassani Dotson doesn't want out
Feb 5, 2025
Hassani Dotson asked to be traded, but according to Loons chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be in Minnesota.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s Hassani who says he doesn’t want to be there,” El-Ahmad said on Tuesday, his first media availability following the publicized trade request from Dotson’s camp.
Star Tribune: Hassani Dotson requests a trade - and it's hard on everyone
Jan 27, 2025
Minnesota United was already short of players in its central midfield, and now the Loons must handle the potential loss of another.
The club picked up a contract option for Hassani Dotson at the beginning of the offseason, meaning the 27-year-old midfielder is entering the final season of his deal — a situation that Dotson is clearly unhappy with.
Star Tribune: Why Teemu Pukki is leaving MNUFC
Jan 24, 2025
For Teemu Pukki, this is not how things were supposed to work out.
When Pukki signed with Minnesota United in the summer of 2023, he was supposed to be the final piece in the Loons attack. For a player who had already scored more than 200 times in a near-two-decade-long career, including nearly two dozen goals in the Premier League, MLS was going to be just another stop in a storied career.
Star Tribune: MNUFC negotiating with midfielders Owen Gene, Jeong Ho-yeon on transfer market
Jan 23, 2025
Minnesota United has started the 2025 season carrying over a lot of the depth that it had to end 2024 — except, perhaps, down the center of the field.
“On account of some of the exits we’ve had, we look a little bit light in the middle,” coach Eric Ramsay said.
Star Tribune: MNUFC close to acquiring center back Nicolás Romero
Jan 20, 2025
Minnesota United chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad said at the beginning of the offseason that the team would focus on bringing in younger players, and the Loons may be about to acquire their first.