When Cody Cropper was down and out last summer, Minnesota United welcomed the goalkeeper in and helped build him back up.

Cropper, who spent half his childhood in Maple Grove, had seriously injured his shoulder with English lower-division club Milton Keynes Dons in April, and the club then declined his contract option in May.

Still without a team in July, Cropper was invited to rehab on the side as Loons players trained for North American Soccer League games at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

“It’s just great for an athlete to be in that environment instead of locked away and isolated,” Cropper told the Pioneer Press.

But Cropper, 24, had plenty of high-quality experience, with U.S. youth national teams and three years with Southampton in the Premier League. Was United angling to sign Cropper to be the expansion franchise’s goalie in Major League Soccer in their debut season? Related Articles Minnesota United acquires striker Kei Kamara in trade with Colorado

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Last summer, Cropper expressed desire to play for Minnesota, and United had some interest in Cropper’s potential. But the New England Revolution set up a road block by putting Cropper on its Discovery List, an MLS mechanism to place dibs on players outside the league.

New England signed Cropper in August, and the rangy, 6-foot-4 goalie is expected to start in net when the Revolution (0-2-0) face Minnesota (0-2-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Foxboro, Mass.

Cropper has gotten the playing time he sought by returning to the U.S., starting each of the Revs’ games (two saves, three goals).

Cropper moved from Atlanta to Maple Grove when he was 10, then left the west metro suburb before his junior year of high school to join lower-level English club Ipswich Town in 2010.

During his six-season run in England, Cropper had concussions, knee injuries and a major shoulder injury. He has been tested by durability questions and heard the same message from English goalkeeping coaches.

“All of them said, ‘Cody, you need games. Go back and you need to be playing, regardless of what the contract looks like or what the situation looks like,’ ” Cropper said.

The situation looked rough when Cropper returned to Minnesota last summer. He had reconstructive surgery to repair his labrum and reattach his bicep. But being around fellow soccer players helped improve his mood during his rehab process with Loons then-head athletic trainer Yoshiyuki Ono and members of Twin Cities Orthopedics.

United forward Christian Ramirez became friends with Cropper as they worked on parallel tracks last season. Ramirez said Cropper was quiet at first, but his sense of humor was soon revealed.

Ramirez and other Loons players that made the jump from NASL to MLS reconnected with Cropper during the teams’ preseason trip to Casa Grade, Ariz., in January.

“I obviously think I’m going to keep a clean sheet and shut Christian down,” Cropper said.

Ramirez, tied for the Loons’ lead with two goals through three games, has other ideas. “If I get one past him, he’ll never hear the end of it,” he said.

Focused on his new team, Cropper still hasn’t given up on a dream of playing in England.

“I look at it now that it was the right decision (to come to New England), but my goal is to still go back to England and play back there,” Cropper said. “I’m focused on the Revolution and winning games and winning championships here, but I can look back on that and say that I had an experience of a lifetime, living abroad at 17 or 18 all the way up to 24. Not a lot of kids get to do that.”