MLS' United signs former Loons defender Brent Kallman

Minnesota United FC finally has a Minnesotan on the roster.

Defender Brent Kallman, who grew up in Woodbury, will join the first-year Major League Soccer franchise after making a jump from the club's North American Soccer League roster, the team announced Monday.

The Loons, en route to Casa Grande, Ariz., to begin preseason training Tuesday, also added Ibson, a veteran midfielder from Brazil who played parts of two seasons with the club.

Kallman, 26, and Ibson, 33, make it six players signed who have ties to United's NASL days. The others are defenders Justin Davis and Kevin Venegas, forward Christian Ramirez and midfielder Miguel Ibarra.

"I'm relieved that I finally know where I'm going to play, and I'm ecstatic that it's here with the club in MLS," said Kallman, a native of Omaha who attended high school in Woodbury and played collegiately at Creighton. "I'm really excited to make the jump to a higher level, and to be able to do it here is just really special."

Kallman said he felt he had a strong senior season at Creighton and thought that might lead to some training camp opportunities with MLS teams. When those calls never came, older brother Brian Kallman, who was a defender for United from 2010-15, helped him earn a trial with United that eventually led to a full signing in 2013.

"My journey was a lot longer to get to MLS than I thought it felt like it had to be,'' Brent Kallman said. "I think I'm better off for it because back in 2012, 2013, I wasn't ready."

Brent Kallman won't be the first Kallman in a professional soccer league, though. That honor goes to his sister Kassey Kallman, a defender for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League.

United sporting director Manny Lagos, a St. Paul native, said having a hometown connection on the roster shows the team's dedication to growing more Minnesota soccer players.

"It's nice to have some guys from the legacy and history of the club and the state," he said. "There is some, I think, pride about the development side of this state and developing soccer players, and there's also an honesty that we want to do more. We think we can do better."

In Ibson, the Loons added experience to a roster dotted with younger players. Ibson came to Minnesota in 2015, scoring six goals and getting named to the NASL Best XI.