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Minnesota United announced Tuesday that it has signed USL Championship defender D.J. Taylor.

Taylor, 23, will provide youth and depth behind starting veteran right back Romain Metanire after playing the last four years with his home-state North Carolina FC team.

Before that, he joined a Spanish professional academy and signed with two teams in Spain's fourth division before returning to North Carolina in 2017. He played two games with the U.S. U-18 national team in 2015 and scored a goal at the Copa Chivas tournament.

Loons coach Adrian Heath called Taylor "young and talented" and termed the signing another decision aimed to make the team younger and more competitive among itself for playing time. "We expect D.J. to immediately make our club better," Heath said in a team statement.

The Loons also have added starting defensive midfielder Wil Trapp, MLS veteran defender Jukka Raitala, and center back and former 2019 MLS SuperDraft fourth overall pick Callum Montgomery.

They also moved up in last month's SuperDraft to take Cal-Davis defender Nabi Kibunguchy with the 18th pick while they wait to see if two-time MLS Defender of the Year Ike Opara is healthy enough to continue his career. Opara missed all but two games last season.

The Loons' glaring need remains striker – two of them, including one possibly a designated player. They begin on-field team training March 8. The MLS regular season starts April 17.