LOS ANGELES – Yoshimar Yotún will join Orlando City a day later than most of his teammates after flying across the country for MLS Media.
While most of his teammates undergo physical exams Sunday and begin preseason training Monday, Yotún will fly back to Orlando and start that process Monday.
A lot has happened during Orlando City’s offseason, and Yotún said he’s excited to see the 2018 roster taking shape. That likely has to do with two high-profile additions joining him in the midfield: former New York Red Bulls captain Sacha Kljestan and young Paraguayan talent Josué Colmán.
Yotún is plenty familiar with Kljestan, who also attended MLS media day, having faced him in league play last year, but he met Colmán for the first time recently at the club’s training facility at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford, Fla.
“He is very excited to get going and play on the field and show his talent,” Yotún said of Colmán. “He’s a young guy that I think has a great vision for him to succeed in the league. I thought he was a really nice guy when I met him, so I’m excited to work with him.”
The two new teammates also have been staying at the same hotel in Orlando, but when Yotún gets back he’ll move into an Orlando-area house of his own. A broad smile emerged when Yotún shared that he’d closed on a house in nearby Lake Mary while he was giving interviews in Los Angeles with some of the league’s top players.
Yotún said although Orlando City has made “important changes” to the roster, its style of play will remain largely the same. Last season, the Lions mostly stuck to a 4-4-2 formation throughout a disappointing season that ended with a 10-15-9 record and no postseason bid.
“I believe it’s going to be a very similar system,” Yotún said. “Our head coach has a very clear idea on how we want to play. It’s not about changing the system or how we play. It’s always exciting to begin a new year, new teammates, and it’s going to be an important one.”