Center back a likely need target

New braintrust owns 10th, 26th picks in MLS SuperDraft

Inter Miami CF’s new front office and coach will have the opportunity to make their first mark on the team ahead of the 2021 Major League Soccer season Thursday.

The MLS SuperDraft (2 p.m. Thursday) will give Chris Henderson the opportunity to select some of the best college soccer players in the nation for Inter Miami after being named the club’s new sporting director and chief soccer officer earlier in the week.

Inter Miami also named Phil Neville, a former teammate of David Beckham, as their new coach Monday.

The first round of the draft will be live-streamed on MLSSoccer.com, the MLS app, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The remainder of the picks can be followed through the league’s draft tracker on its website or on teams’ social media pages and websites.

Inter Miami selected forward Robbie Robinson out of Clemson with the No. 1 pick and defender Dylan Nealis out of Georgetown with the No. 3 pick last year’s draft.

Robinson made 14 appearances (four starts) while Nealis made 20 appearances (11 starts) with Inter Miami during the 2020 season.

Inter Miami have five picks in Thursday’s draft:

— First Round: 10th and 26th;

— Second Round: 10th pick (37th overall);

— Third Round: 27th pick (81st overall).

They’ll also receive a compensatory pick at the end of the third round after acquiring a fourthround pick (85th overall) in trade with the New England Revolution in September. The league changed the draft from four rounds to three after the trade was made during the offseason.

Here’s Inter Miami’s roster entering the draft:

Goalkeepers (2): Drake Callender, John McCarthy;

Defenders (5): Nico Figal, Leandro González Pirez, Christian Makoun, Nealis, Patrick Seagrist;

Midfielders (9): George Acosta, Brek Shea, Jay Chapman, Blaise Matuidi, Lewis Morgan, Matías Pellegrini, Rodolfo Pizarro, Victor Ulloa, Felipe Valencia;

Forwards (3): Julián Carranza, Gonzalo Higuaín, Robinson.

Team needs

There are plenty of strong center back options in this year’s draft and Inter Miami would be wise to take their pick at one of them.

While Figal and González Pirez are expected to be a formidable starting center back duo, the departures of Andres Reyés and A.J. DeLaGarza leave little depth behind the Argentines with Makoun as the lone natural center back on the roster.

Rio Hope-Gund (Georgetown), Nabi Kibunguchy (UC-Davis) and Aime Mabika (Kentucky) are a few center back options to keep an eye on.

Figal, who started at right back for most of 2020, moving back to his natural position of center back leaves Nealis as the lone natural right back on Inter Miami’s roster.

While Nealis proved to be a capable option during his first season in MLS,

Inter Miami may try to secure a right back who can compete with him for the starting position or is comfortable playing forward when the team moves into the attack.

Logan Panchot (Stanford) and Ben Di Rosa (Maryland) are two right backs who may be available for Inter Miami to select.

MICHAEL LAUGHLIN/SUN SENTINEL Inter Miami forward Robbie Robinson was the first pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.