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Columbus Crew SC

Columbus Crew SC Defender Jukka Raitala Selected by Los Angeles

December 17, 2017 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


COLUMBUS - Columbus Crew SC today announced that defender Jukka Raitala was selected by Los Angeles Football Club with the fourth overall selection in today's 2017 Major League Soccer Expansion Draft. Current clubs that had players selected received $50,000 in General Allocation Money in return. Raitala, who played for Crew SC in 2017, joins LAFC for their inaugural MLS season in 2018.

Raitala, a 29-year-old defender, joined Crew SC ahead of the 2017 campaign. In 2017, he made 28 regular-season appearances (20 starts) for the Black & Gold, contributing two assists while playing 1920 minutes. The Finnish international also made two appearances (one start) at leftback in the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs, helping Crew SC reach the Eastern Conference Championship.

"While it is never easy to have a player selected in the Expansion Draft, we want to take a moment to thank Jukka for all of his contributions to Crew SC in 2017," said Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. "From the moment he arrived, Jukka was a consummate professional and worked hard on and off the field to quickly adapt to our system ahead of his season with us. We wish him the best in the next chapter of his career."

The MLS offseason continues with the MLS Waiver Draft taking place tomorrow, Wednesday, December 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET and the MLS Re-Entry Draft Stage One occurring on Friday, December 15 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Stage Two of the Re-Entry Draft takes place on Thursday, December 21 at 2:00 p.m. ET.

TRANSACTION: Columbus Crew SC defender Jukka Raitala was selected by Los Angeles Football Club with the fourth overall selection in the 2017 Major League Soccer Expansion Draft. Crew SC acquires $50,000 in General Allocation Money following the selection.

NOTE TO MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA COVERING COLUMBUS CREW SC

When discussing the organization and the team, please reference the club as "Columbus Crew SC" on first reference as "Crew SC" is an appropriate secondary reference. Both references are singular subjects, while the tertiary reference "Black & Gold," with the ampersand, is plural. Please note: we no longer use "Columbus Crew" or "The Crew" in our terminology of the club and "The Crew SC" is also not applicable. Our home venue is now known as MAPFRE Stadium and MAPFRE must be in all caps. (MAPFRE Stadium is pronounced "MAH-fray Stadium"). The club's training facility is now known as the EAS Training Center at Obetz. If you have brand terminology or badge questions - or need the updated badge and wordmark for your archives - please reach out to a member of Crew SC Communications.

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