San Antonio FC has signed midfielder Wellington “Pecka” Paeckart for the 2017 USL season pending league and federation approval, the club announced today. Per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The midfielder joins SAFC from Rayo OKC (NASL) where he appeared in 20 matches, starting 13 during the 2016 season. Over 1,046 total minutes, Pecka scored one goal and recorded two assists, helping Rayo OKC grab the fourth and final playoff spot at the end of the overall campaign. The Brazilian logged 20 minutes as a substitute in Rayo’s lone playoff matchup against the New York Cosmos.

“We are excited to add Pecka to our group of midfielders,” said SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell. “He is able to connect the game well, which will be an asset for our team. With the preseason just around the corner we are looking forward to having Pecka in San Antonio soon.”

Playing mostly as a defensive midfielder, Pecka began his professional career in his native Brazil, playing with Flamengo and CFZ do Rio before moving to the United States and joining the Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) in 2011. Over the course of four seasons with Fort Lauderdale, Pecka appeared in 60 matches, starting 52 and playing a total of 4,452 minutes while scoring three goals and adding an assist. In 2014, Pecka helped lead the Strikers to the NASL Championship where they narrowly fell to the San Antonio Scorpions at Toyota Field. The midfielder also spent a period on-loan to Brazilian club Madureira during the 2014 season.

Following his time with the Strikers, the 27-year-old signed with MLS club Real Salt Lake in 2015 where he went on to make four appearances with the first team and six appearances on-loan with Real Monarchs SLC (USL).

“I am extremely happy to join the San Antonio FC family,” said Pecka. “We have a great group of players along with an experienced coaching staff that will help us put together a successful campaign. I’m going to work really hard along with my teammates so we can always make our fans proud.”

Pecka joins Billy Forbes, Akwafei Ajeakwa, Kris Tyrpak, Cyprian Hedrick and Ben Newnam as new faces on the San Antonio FC roster this season in addition to the nine returning players from last year.

San Antonio FC is currently prepping for its second season in the USL, which is scheduled to kick off in the spring. Fans interested in season tickets can contact the SAFC sales office at 210-444-5MLS or visit SanAntonioFC.com

Supporters can follow the club by liking San Antonio FC on Facebook, as well as following the team on Twitter (@SanAntonioFC), Instagram (@sanantoniofc) and Snapchat (SanAntonioFC).