United City beefed up its roster for the Philippines Football League and AFC Champions League with the addition of 13 new players.
Among the signings made by last season’s PFL champions are brothers Omid and Amin Nazari, ex-national team veteran Mark Hartmann, former U-22 team member Justin Baas, Curt Dizon and one-time Mendiola keeper Kenry Balobo.
Also joining the club are Andreas Esswein, Kieran Hayes, Ryan Jarvis, William Grierson, Adam Reed, American Jonny Campbell and South Korean Da-hwon Jung.
There are holdovers from last season’s campaign, namely soon-to-be naturalized player Bienvenido Maranon, Stephan Schrock and Mike Ott.
UCFC is out to defend the PFL title it won inside the bubble in Carmona, Cavite while also aiming for a solid showing as the first Filipino club to compete in the group stage of the Champions League.
United City will play in Group I slated June against Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale, China’s Beijing Guoan and the winner of the playoff between South Korea’s Daegu FC and Thailand’s Chiangrai United.