It’s been a wild ride for Maikel Chang. The 30-year-old Cuban built on his debut season during his second year with RSL, as the midfielder was regularly relied on throughout the 20/21 season. Chang saw the field in all but six total matches, with 12 of them being starts, matching his total starts from last season. This season he added two playoff starts to his resume.
After defecting in Canada in 2013 while representing the Cuban national team, Chang found himself with the Charleston Battery of USL, a club that has regularly harbored Cuban defectors. Chang quickly became a standout in the second division, then found his way to Real Monarchs, where he was one of the key players who led the Monarchs to their league title in 2019 before he was promoted to the first team.