The first move of Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City II’s offseason was announced on Tuesday. The club has added 19-year-old midfielder Duval Wapiwo.

He made his pro debut in 2019 for fellow USL Championship side North Carolina FC who are coached by former United States Men’s National Team interim coach Dave Sarachan. He was with NCFC on loan from Czech side MFK Vyskov (third division).

In the USL Championship teams get seven internationals and since Wapiwo is from Cameroon, it would appear he would occupy one. His signing seems to follow the pattern of 2019 when the then Swope Park Rangers signed lots of youth players including internationals (Alexsander, Ayyoub Allach) and tried to see if they would be future first-team fits.

While with North Carolina, Wapiwo had seven appearances (two in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup) and no goals. According to the team, “Wapiwo rose through the ranks at Apejes FC de Mfou in his native Cameroon before joining MFK Vyskov in early 2019.”

Below are his vitals according to SportingKC.com:

VITALS

Duval Wapiwo

Position: Midfielder

Born: 1/20/2000 (19 years old)

Height: 5-9

Weight: 160 lbs.

Hometown: Yaounde, Cameroon

Birthplace: Yaounde, Cameroon

Citizenship: Cameroon

Previous Club: MFK Vyskov (Czech Republic)