Detroit City FC signs new midfielder among rash of re-signings

Detroit City FC has had a busy offseason bringing back key pieces from last year, but finally added a new face on Tuesday in announcing the signing of Norwegian midfielder Skage Simonsen on a two-year deal.

Simonsen, 24, was a third-round pick by DC United in the 2022 MLS Superdraft following his college career at St. John's and Southern Methodist University.

After being drafted by DC, Simonsen scored in an international friendly against FC Bayern Munich but mostly spent time with United's USL Championship affiliate, Loudoun United. With Loudoun, Simonsen had a team-high assists (seven) and chances created (34) and added two goals in 1,779 minutes of play.

Simonsen, who ranked in the 90th percentile for forward pass share and the 74th percentile for expected-assists, per USL Tactics, will be a facilitator in the midfield that DCFC was sorely missing a season ago.

Announcing Simonsen came on the heels of several other contracts announced by DCFC in the last week.

The club announced Sunday that utility man Michael Bryant, who played just about every position but goalkeeper in his first season with DCFC, is being brought back on a club option for 2022.

Center back Devon Amoo-Mensah, who was trending toward becoming a guy who would draw interest from higher leagues before suffering a season-ending knee injury, is being brought back on a two-year deal, with 2023 guaranteed and a club option for 2024. Getting Amoo-Mensah under team control through 2024 is huge for DCFC. Should a better opportunity come calling within the next year, DCFC would stand to gain a sizable transfer fee, which it could then allocate to building the rest of its roster — no small benefit for a club famously working without a big budget.

Midfielder Rhys Williams is coming back on a fully-guaranteed, two-year deal. Williams was one of DCFC's most reliable horses last season, starting 28 matches as a fullback who came up big one time or another on all areas of the field. Williams finished the 2022 season second on the team in tackles won (57) and aerial duels won (219).

Midfielder Abdoulaye Diop and forward Yazeed Matthews were brought back on identical deals as Amoo-Mensah. A majority of players brought back were signed to two-year deals, meaning the club has stabilized its two-year outlook while remaining flexible in that span.