U20 attacker Romain Gall signed by the Crew after arriving through lottery

Seemingly as a consolation, the Crew signed French/American midfielder Romain Gall via Major League Soccer's weighted lottery. Gall won't salve the pains from missing out on Mix Diskerud, but he is a U.S. youth international and has been a key part of the U-20 setup since joining the team last November.

At 19, Gall has a long history with U.S. soccer. He's played for the D.C. United and Real Salt Lake academies, but not long enough to be claimed by either organization. Recently Gall moved to France play for the FC Lorient U-19 team, but didn't break through to the reserve team or earn a senior contract.

Gall is a long term project for the Crew. Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter noted "I think any impact he makes [this season] I think will be a pleasant surprise." He then added "We're going to bring him in slowly and not put too much pressure on him to perform."

The process to integrate Gall won't include a trip to Dayton yet. Berhalter stressed, "We want him first and foremost to learn our system and to be training here with us and we'll evaluate the game time as it comes."

Berhalter was able to rely on some first hand scouting, that was admittedly a little out of date. Wil Trapp did not play with Gall during his time with the U-20's, but has played with him before. The Crew vice-captain recalled playing with Gall when Trapp was in high school and Gall was in middle school at the Preimier Soccer Academy that was set up by Brad Friedel.

Trapp recalled "He's a very technical player, smart, likes to get forward, likes to make stuff happen." adding "I'm exited to have him here and kind of take him under my arm."

Gall is expected in Columbus in the next couple days and will be available once the team receives his International Transfer Certificate, but don't expect to see him in the lineup too soon.