Update:
The Roots confirmed that they have signed Óttar Magnús Karlsson on loan from Serie A’s Venezia.
To this point in the offseason, the Oakland Roots have built a roster heavy on defenders and light on attackers. But the Roots appear to be in the process of two moves that will have correct this potential imbalance.
First, the Roots have announced that they have transferred defender Kai Greene to Monterey Bay F.C. for an undisclosed fee.
Greene becomes Oakland’s first outgoing transfer to an opposing organization. Roots will now move forward with Emrah Klimenta, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Danny Barbir, and Tarek Morad along the back line. Max Ornstil also spent time at center back last season.
Greene re-signed for the 2022 season, but was not at the team’s preseason game against Academica SC in Turlock or at the organization’s media day festivities.
Greene, 28, was a late signee after joining the organization on June 1. Becoming a leader and every-game starter, he finished with 28 appearances and 24 starts, concluding as second on the team in minutes with 2,178 behind Klimenta.
Along with one goal scored, Greene had a tackle success rate of 71.4 percent and 1.2 tackles per match. His 39.9 accurate passes per match ranked second behind Emrah Klimenta, while his 7.04 official rating ranked third on the team.
Second, reports out of Iceland indicate that 24-year old forward Óttar Magnús Karlsson is signing with the club.
Karlsson may be the Roots’ answer at striker. The 6-feet, 3-inch forward was recently with A.C.N Siena of Italy’s Serie C on loan after spending 2020 with Venezia while they were in Serie B. According to Transfermarkt, he carries a market value of $165,000 with center forward as his primary role.
His highlight reel above shows that he’s a left-footed forward who took penalties, free kicks, and corners for Vikings F.C. in Iceland’s first division. At 2:44 in the clip above, he also shows that he’s capable of making timely runs into the box for headers–something that Oakland struggled in last season.
Karlsson, 24, started his career with Vikings F.C.’s youth academy in 2013 before joining Ajax’s youth academy from 2013-2016. He also spent 2015-2016 with Sparta Rotterdam’s youth academy of the Netherland’s Eredivisie.
Karlsson returned to Vikings in 2016, scoring seven goals in 20 appearances. He signed with Norwegian first-division side Molde from 2017-2018 and went on loan to Swedish second-tier club Trelleborgs FF in 2018–making 14 caps and scoring once–and then joined first-tier team Mjällby AIF from 2018-2019.
From there, he returned to Vikings in 2019-2020, making 22 appearances and scoring 14 times. In September of 2020, he landed on Venezia on a reported $550,000 transfer fee. He made seven appearances for Venezia in 2020, scoring once. He went on loan to Siena last season.
Karlsson has made nine appearances for the Iceland National Team from 2017-2020, scoring once.
Our public roster numbers has Oakland Roots at 22 of 26 applicable spots, while Karlsson’s addition caps off the program’s nine international player positions. The full list includes:
- Paul Blanchette
- Taylor Bailey
- Alejandro Fuenmayor (International)
- Emrah Klimenta
- Tarek Morad
- Max Ornstil
- Danny Barbir
- Akeem O’Connor-Ward
- Edgardo Rito (International)
- Memo Diaz
- Ariel Mbumba
- Joseph Nane (International)
- Jose Hernandez (International)
- Matias Fissore (International)
- Lindo Mfeka (International)
- Charlie Dennis
- Johnny Rodriguez
- Chuy Enriquez
- Dariusz Formella (International)
- Javier Mariona (unofficial)
- Juan Carlos Azocar (unofficial) (International)
- Óttar Magnús Karlsson (unofficial) (International)
Best of luck to Kai down in Monterey. “He’s here! He’s there! He’s every-fucking-where!”
One thought on “Roster Update: Oakland Roots Signing FW Óttar Magnús Karlsson, Transfer Kai Green To Monterey Bay”