The 2018 MLS SuperDraft was the nineteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. As customary, the SuperDraft was held in conjunction with the annual

United Soccer Coaches The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

convention. The 2018 UCS was held in

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between January 17–21, 2018. Rounds one and two of the SuperDraft were held on January 19, 2018. Rounds three and four of the 2018 SuperDraft were held via a conference call on January 21, 2018.

Format

The SuperDraft format has remained constant throughout its history and closely resembles that of the

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: #Any

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receive the first picks. Los Angeles FC will enter the league as an expansion team in 2018. #Non-playoff clubs receive the next picks in reverse order of prior season finish. #Teams that made the

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are then ordered by which round of the playoffs they are eliminated. #The winners of the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

are given the last selection, and the losers the penultimate selection.

Player selection

Round 1

Any player marked with a * is part of the

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program.

Round 1 trades

Round 2

Any player marked with a * is part of the

program.

Round 2 trades

Round 3

Round 3 trades

Round 4

Round 4 trades

Other 2018 SuperDraft Trade Notes

* On December 23, 2016,

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

acquired a second-round selection in the 2018 SuperDraft from

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

in exchange for the MLS rights to defender

Greg Garza Gregory "Greg" Martin Garza (born August 16, 1991) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a left-back. Club career Estoril Praia Garza spent several years with Sporting Clube de Portugal's under-19 team, but he was not ...

. Trade terms stated that if Garza started a minimum of 12 MLS regular-season games in 2017 the SuperDraft pick would be converted to General Allocation Money instead of the SuperDraft pick. Garza met this threshold and Columbus received General Allocation Money. * On March 30, 2017,

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

acquired a conditional first-round selection in the 2018 SuperDraft, midfielder

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, $225,000 of targeted allocation money, and $75,000 of general allocation money from

in exchange for forward

Kekuta Manneh Kekuta Manneh (born 30 December 1994) is a Gambian-American professional soccer player who plays as a winger. Club career Youth and amateur Manneh began his career at the several youth academies, including Gilcock Academy, in Gambia before mo ...

. The traded SuperDraft pick was contingent on Columbus signing Manneh to a contract extending beyond the 2017 MLS season and would have been Columbus's natural selection. However, in December 2017 Manneh instead signed with

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of Liga MX. Trade terms also stated that Vancouver would receive additional general allocation money if Manneh is traded by Columbus prior to December 31, 2018 and would have retained a percentage of any future transfer fee if Manneh was transferred outside of MLS.

Notable undrafted players

Homegrown players

Players who signed outside of MLS

Summary

Selections by college athletic conference

* ''NCAA Division I conferences with no draft picks: Big South, Colonial and Northeast''

Schools with multiple draft selections

References

{{MLS drafts Major League Soccer drafts SuperDraft

MLS SuperDraft The MLS SuperDraft is an annual college draft for teams of Major League Soccer in the United States and Canada. It takes place in January and is used by teams to select players who have graduated from college or otherwise been signed by the l ...

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