by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Feb 14, 2019

FC Cincinnati

2019 Roster (31 players):

Just a few years ago,was considered one of the most exciting young players in MLS. But a year after playing out his contract and leaving on a free transfer, the Gambian-born prodigy is headed back to MLS, signing with expansion team FC Cincinnati.Manneh, 24, played just one Liga MX game at Pachuca and seven games for St. Gallen in Switzerland's Super League. With his contract at St. Gallen set to expire in June, Swiss daily Tagblatt reported that sporting director, who played in MLS for the Dallas Burn, allowed Manneh to leave on a free transfer.FC Cincinnati had to pay Columbus Crew $250,000 in Targeted Allocation Money and $50,000 in General Allocation Money for Manneh's MLS rights. It could send an additional $100,000 in Allocation Money ($50,000 in TAM and $50,000 in GAM) if certain performance thresholds are met.The No. 4 pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, Manneh scored 26 goals and added 15 assists in 120 regular-season appearances during his five MLS seasons. He was traded by Vancouver to the Crew at the start of his fifth MLS season in 2017. FC Cincinnati is loaded with central midfielders, but he will give it a boost on the outside.“We are excited to bring Kekuta to Cincinnati,” FC Cincinnati coachsaid in a statement. “His pace and skill on the ball will add a dynamic element to our group when attacking in the final third. He has had success in MLS and we know he will embrace the unique challenge of joining an expansion team."Koch knows Manneh from having served as the Whitecaps FC 2 coach in 2015-16. Manneh will also join fellow Gambian and former Whitecaps teammatein Cincinnati. Kah is a member of Koch's FCC technical staff.Manneh attended the U.S. national team's January camp in 2017 and became eligible to play for the USA when he turned 23 in December 2017. FIFA rules require foreign-born players to wait until five years after their 18th birthday before they can play for their adopted home. He attended the camp before the match against Paraguay in March 2018 but was not on the game-day roster.Manneh, who was born in Gambia and moved to the United States on a sports exchange program with Rush Soccer as a teenager, was the No. 4 pick by Vancouver in the 2013 SuperDraft out of high school in Texas.(Michigan State Univ.), Spencer Richey (Vancouver),(Dep. Coruna/ESP).(Troyes/FRA),(Atlanta United),(Wake Forest Univ.),(Toronto FC), Justin Hoyte, Forrest Lasso,(NY Red Bulls),(Portland), Blake Smith,(Vancouver)Fatai Alashe, Nazmi Albadawi,(Houston),(UCLA),(Young Boys/SUI), Corben Bone,(Herediano/CRC),(Quinnipiac Univ.),(FC Dallas), Emmanuel Ledesma,(St. Gallen/SUI),(Univ. of Notre Dame), Jimmy McLaughlin,(Freiburg/GER),(FC Dallas).Fanendo Adi,(D.C. United), Emery Welshman.