Danladi, the first overall pick in Major League Soccer's collegiate draft in January, didn't play in the Loons' MLS debut in Portland, nor its home opener against Atlanta in early March.

But after the back spasms that sidelined him in preseason and the opening regular-season games subsided, the 21-year-old Ghana native has come on as a second-half sub for Minnesota.

"The last couple of weeks, he's been getting better," United coach Adrian Heath said Thursday, April 13. "But if we can keep him fit and get himself nice and sharp like he is doing, he's making it very difficult for me to leave him out of the team at this moment in time."

Based on his career at UCLA, Danladi's health was one of the biggest pre-draft concerns about him. Hamstring issues limited him to playing in only 11 of the Bruins' 20 games in 2016.

But when Danladi was on the field, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound player made plays with his skill and speed. Across three seasons, he tallied 18 goals and 18 assists in 42 games at UCLA.

To rectify the back spasms and address any lingering hamstring concerns, United's training staff identified Danladi's lack of core strength as a exacerbating factor.

"They found the root of it, and that I was just using my hamstring and not the other muscles around it." Danladi said. "The hamstring would get really, really tight. Now I'm working with my (butt) and my core muscles that I wasn't using a lot."

Does Danladi have washboard abs to show for the new work? "A little bit," he said with a laugh.

Heath and assistant coach Ian Fuller have shown Danladi footage of Jamie Vardy, the English forward whose 24 goals led Leicester City in a Cinderella run to the Premier League title last season. They wanted to show Danladi how Vardy uses his speed to his advantage.

In England's European Championship qualifying match against Estonia in 2015, goalie Joe Hart punted the ball downfield and Harry Kane headed it onward to a sprinting Vardy. Vardy's run got behind the Estonia defense, and Vardy passed to Raheem Sterling for a goal in England's 2-0 victory.

"I went and looked at it and said it was something I could do," Danladi said of Vardy clips.

Fuller is also working with Danladi on misdirection moves to throw off center backs. They don't want Danladi staying on the defender's back shoulder.

Instead of then coming in front of the center backs to receive a pass, the coaches want Danladi to come in front and then spin off the defender's shoulder toward goal.

"Any time you are spinning off people's shoulder, its really difficult, especially with pace," Fuller said. "As he gets fitter and fitter, and the more we work at it, it's gonna happen in the future."

Fuller said Danladi has to understand the nuances of the pro game.

"The kid has ability, incredible physical ability and incredible technique, and it's just working on the exactness of his running," Fuller said. "Rather than just running because in college you can get away with that. At the pro level, it has to be a bit more than that."

Last weekend, Danladi nearly headed in a goal in United's 2-0 loss to Western Conference favorite Dallas last weekend. It would have been his first MLS goal, but Dallas goalie Jesse Gonzalez made one of his five saves en route to a spot on MLS' team of the week.

If Danladi's header didn't have the angle to hit the net, United teammate Christian Ramirez was sliding and might have poked it in.

"I dig my head into it and I thought it was in," Danladi said. "I was rolling over and when I turned, he had saved it, and I was like 'how?' "

But with Danladi staying healthy and continuing to ply his trade, his first goal could be a matter of when.

"If he would have managed to get a goal, that would have done his confidence a world of good," Heath said. "But the only thing I can say is he is getting closer and closer by the week."