Charlotte FC adds the first building block to its defense

After a few days of teasing on their social media channels, Charlotte FC has officially announced the signing of its first defender. Charlotte FC had been relatively quiet before the deal got announced. Fans had been growing anxious as they waited to hear something new come from the club.

That restlessness culminated over the weekend when the Charlotte FC social media team changed their Twitter handle too, “So we”ll have some player news this week,” and their bio gave away a clue of his nationality by using the Polish flag. An interesting and prolonged way to make the announcement.

A campaign most likely aimed to stir up the conversation around Charlotte FC after going quiet in recent weeks. Chatter amongst the team quickly heated up with fans making their prediction on who the player would be. The pinnacle of the saga coming on Tuesday with the announcement of Polish center-back Jan Sobociński.

Jan Sobociński comes from Polish side LKS Lodz, pronounced “L-Ka-S Wootch.” Seriously, go look it up. A homegrown from Lodz he’s made 44 appearances in Poland’s second division and 27 in the top flight for Lodz.

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Currently sitting in second place in the second division, Lodz has gone back and forth between the 1 Liga and the top division in Poland Ekstraklasa. Having previously gone on a short loan Sobociński once again had options of moving after Lodz was relegated.

He elected to continue on with Lodz before Charlotte FC came with their approach. Charlotte’s unique situation of not beginning play until next year gave Sobociński that extra comfortability to remain with his club and finish out the season before finally making the jump from his home country to the United States in 2022.

Sobociński is a young, left-footed, center-back. At 21 years old he’s an up-and-coming prospect and will provide a great foundational defensive piece to build around. A good passer, a great long passer, he’ll work well in a possession heavy system.

He’s represented Poland’s at the U-20 and U-21 levels. Getting his first cap for the U21’s in September of 2019. This gives him quality experience playing against youth nationals across the world, primarily in European qualifiers.

The identity of Charlotte is still under construction but they’re starting to put together good foundational pieces. Sobociński joins three other players on Charlotte’s roster, Sergio Ruiz, Riley Mcgree, and Brandt Bronico. Giving charlotte three midfielders and its first defender. Surely a forward will be coming soon…