Minnesota United and right back D.J. Taylor have agreed to a new two-year contract, with a club option for 2026, the Loons said Friday.
Taylor, 26, played 2,511 MLS minutes across 30 matches for the Loons in 2023. He was been a bargain a year ago with a guaranteed compensation of $98,261, according to MLSPA.
xcited for new things,” Taylor wrote on Instagram.
But the Loons back line struggled in an end-of-season swoon that cost manager Adrian Heath his job . When interim head coach Sean McAuley took over, Zarek Valentin started at right back over Taylor in the final two regular-season games.
MNUFC is now in transition with new leadership atop its sporting department. Chief Soccer Officer Khaled Al-Ahmad has been hired but is still finishing out his term with English club Barnsley, and the Loons have a vacant head coaching position.
Taylor’s new contract was completed before the end of the 2023 season, and given the top-level changes within MNUFC, it’s unclear what style of play the Loons will have in 2024 and what type of role Taylor might have with the new regime’s plans.
Taylor, a native of Raleigh, N.C., was brought to Minnesota from North Carolina FC of the USL Championship in 2021 , playing in eight games in his first MLS season. Taylor then assumed a starting role with the Loons in 2022 after former MLS All-Star right back Romain Metanire could only play in one MLS game due to serious and reoccurring leg injuries.
