Didn’t sit through the Major League Soccer expansion draft with bated breath on Tuesday afternoon?
With the fourth of five selections in the 2017 expansion draft, Los Angeles FC took Crew SC left back Jukka Raitala.
What does that mean for Columbus?
Obviously the front office felt comfortable with the prospect of losing the Finland international, or it wouldn’t have left him unprotected.
Raitala played approximately 2,000 minutes in his one season in central Ohio, appearing in 28 of the team’s 34 games and starting 20 matches. Although he shared time at left back with both Waylon Francis and Hector Jimenez, he was clearly Gregg Berhalter’s first choice there for much of the year — the only defender to feature for more minutes was center back and designated player Jonathan Mensah.