CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati could have a very new look when it takes to the field for the 2018 USL regular season, with the club announcing on Wednesday it had currently retained nine players from its current roster for the club’s third season.

FCC announced it had re-signed Jimmy McLaughlin, Corben Bone and Danni König, and picked up contract options on the quartet of Kenney Walker, Matt Bahner, Garrett Halfhill and Justin Hoyte. Both Sem de Wit and Josu remained under contract moving into the 2018 season.

After a season that saw the high of reaching the Semifinals of the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and the disappointment of a second consecutive Eastern Conference Quarterfinals exit in the 2017 USL Cup Playoffs, FCC President Jeff Berding said the postseason defeat to the Tampa Bay Rowdies this past weekend highlighted the need for improvements within the squad.

“We’re trying to make the whole team better,” said Berding at the club’s press conference announcing the moves. “The league’s gotten better. Those of our fans and others who follow this closely, the league was a lot more challenging this year, the talent level. The game we played on Saturday, Tampa’s roster, there wasn’t a roster like that in the league in 2016. They have world-class players, Marcel Schafer and a lot of guys on that team are big-time players that are new to the USL.

“We expect there will be more of that in 2018, and we have to adjust, and we have to get better, and part of getting better is coaching the players up and helping the players get better, and some of it is sometimes bringing in new additions to the roster who have a body of work both on the pitch and in their leadership style that will help us reach our ambitious goals.”