VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC confirmed today that Kekuta Manneh and Omar Salgado have graduated from the Generation adidas program, meaning their salaries will begin to count against the club’s salary budget.
As a result, Manneh and Salgado will be eligible for selection in next month’s MLS Expansion Draft unless they are one of the 11 protected played.
The following players are either Homegrown players on the development roster or Generation adidas players and are automatically protected in the MLS Expansion Draft (teams may protect up to 11 players in addition to Homegrown and Generation adidas players):
- Sam Adekugbe – Homegrown
- Marco Carducci – Homegrown
- Caleb Clarke – Homegrown
- Christian Dean – Generation adidas
- Kianz Froese – Homegrown
- Ethen Sampson – Homegrown
- Russell Teibert – Homegrown
Note: Homegrown midfielder Marco Bustos cannot be selected either, as he won't be officially added to Vancouver's MLS roster until January. Bustos signed a pre-contract with Whitecaps FC in September.
Also of note, teams must protect a minimum of three international players. For the purposes of this expansion process, any non-domestic U.S. players will count as an international (for example a player born outside the U.S. who has a Green Card).
Teams must submit their protected lists by December 8. The Expansion Draft is set for December 10.
Click here to see to see a complete set of rules for the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft.
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