FC Cincinnati's preseason continued Thursday on the University of Cincinnati's campus, but the big news swirling around the Sheakley Athletics Center practice bubble was the Wednesday night announcement of the club's acquisition of defender Nick Hagglund.

Through the acquisition of Hagglund via a trade with Toronto FC, FC Cincinnati took on a player it had targeted for a while, head coach Alan Koch explained.

"We've obviously identified a lot of players over the course of this last year and that group will grow and shrink and grow and shrink, and to be quite honest, Nick's always been on that list," Koch said. "It's a player we identified a long, long time ago that we'd like to have in our group, and I'm glad they're able to get it done and he's able to join our team."

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Hagglund (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) is a native of Greater Cincinnati. He's a product of Lakota West High School and Xavier University, where he was a decorated collegian under Musketeers head coach Andy Fleming.

Since being selected by Toronto with the No. 10 pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, Hagglund's been an impact player.

In five seasons with TFC, Hagglund made a combined 115 appearances over the course of MLS regular-season play, the MLS Cup Playoffs, Canadian Championship, CONCACAF Champions League and Campeones Cup.

Hagglund was a member of the 2017 MLS Cup-winning Toronto side and made a late substitute appearance in the championship match against Seattle Sounders FC.

Cincinnati gave up quality resources to bring Hagglund in via the trade with Toronto – $300,000 in combined allocation money to be paid over the next two years along with the top spot in the allocation order, which is a mechanism that arranges the order in which MLS clubs can pursue certain groups of elite talent.

Some estimated the combined value of the package sent to Toronto could approach $500,000.

Hagglund was in demand as several teams pursued him, according to multiple reports. That could have driven Toronto's asking price up.

Koch also indicated there were other variables in play.

"I can speak about the player," said Koch, when asked about the asking price for Hagglund. "Obviously, there's a lot of business that gets done – players in and out and all that type of stuff, but I can speak about Nick. I believe in him as a player. I haven't coached him yet, but I know people in this community that have coached him already and everybody that already interacted with Nick in Cincinnati has spoken nothing but fantastic words about him. I know Toronto spoke fantastically about him, too, and I know he's going to come into our group and have a huge influence.

"Obviously, what teams have to trade and the market – it's almost like a stock market with the ups and downs. And there are so many different variables on the outside that people aren't completely aware of."

Hagglund travels to Cincinnati Thursday and will make his first practice appearance with the club Friday at UC, according to a team press release.

When he arrives in town, Hagglund will quickly notice he's joining a loaded back line that now numbers 10 players. He's a central defender and will compete for time against the three true central defenders currently rostered by Cincinnati (20-year-old Hassan Ndam, 25-year-old Forrest Lasso and 2018 FIFA World Cup goalscorer Kendall Waston).

So, while the trade might have appeared as an unnecessary move to some given Cincinnati's defensive depth, that depth didn't necessarily extend to the central defense – until now.

It's entirely possible Hagglund will become a frontrunner for one of the two starting roles in FC Cincinnati's central defense, perhaps even likely.