When he put his spot kick into the back of the net last Saturday, Kelvin Yeboah became the sixth Loon to score in his debut. Then, when he finished that glorious chip to level the score in the second half, he separated himself as the only MNUFC player to score multiple goals in their first regular-season match for the club. Three points would’ve been the icing on the cake, but the Black and Blue faithful came away from that Seattle match with one major takeaway: this kid is for real.
In a career that’s seen him don the colors of eight different clubs, Yeboah has traveled the world through the game of football. He’s played club soccer on two continents, seven countries, and hundreds of pitches since officially beginning his professional career in 2017, and each stop has helped turn him into the dangerous player he is today. Before the Loons take on the Earthquakes this weekend, let’s take a second to learn a bit more about the newest Black and Blue goalscorer, how he got to the Twin Cities, and what he hopes to accomplish while he’s here.
The Road So Far
After playing in the youth academies of both West Ham United and Italian side Gozzano, Yeboah made the jump to first-team football at the young age of 17 for AC London, a small English club playing in the Combined Counties Football League. From there, it wasn’t long before he moved on to a bigger stage, joining WSG Tirol in the Austrian Bundesliga the very next season.
After impressing across three seasons for Tirol, including a four-goal performance in the Austrian Cup in 2019, Yeboah earned a move to fellow Austrian club Sturm Graz. He averaged a goal every other game during his lone season in Graz, turning heads and securing a move to Italian Serie A side Genoa. Back in Italy for the first time since he was a boy, the young striker played the first half of the 2022–23 season in Serie B with his freshly relegated club before going on loan to German Bundesliga club FC Augsburg.
Yeboah’s time with FC Augsburg served as the first of what would end up being three loan spells during his time under contract with Genoa. Stents with Montpellier in Ligue 1 and Standard Liège in Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League saw him put together a unique resume and tested his mentality.
“Going on loan is challenging, but it’s also a very good way to get to know yourself,” Yeboah said about his experiences with Genoa. “You get to know what you like about other places, and playing in different leagues gave me a lot of experience. By playing in all these places, it builds me up to be who I am now. I had to mature quite quickly, so it’s been a good experience to have.”
Ready to Make an Impact
Following his six goals in 14 appearances for Liège, Yeboah signed with Minnesota United as a Designated Player, and with seven years of professional experience under his belt and a unique mixture of experiences to draw from, Yeboah is ready to take Major League Soccer by storm.
“I made this decision based on the project—plus the league—because I know MLS is growing a lot,” Yeboah said about his choice to come overseas. “This is going to be a good place to show off my skills and move up to the Premier League or another league.”
With lofty goals in mind, a hot start in game one certainly didn’t hurt his chances. Yeboah demonstrated his speed and intelligence in his debut, making fantastic runs and generally being a nuisance for the Seattle defense. When asked what kind of player he is, the forward referenced his Allianz Field performance as an example.
“I think I would describe how I play like the last goal I scored: very dynamic, trying to attack, very energetic,” he said. “But for me, I think my best quality is always the mentality, the desire to win and never give up, the resilience and perseverance. Because I think in a game, that’s what you need the most. I'm going to find a way to influence the game, whether it's helping my teammate score, creating an action, or creating space for somebody else to have the opportunity to do something. Because I think at the end of the day, the most important thing is to be able to influence and bring your contribution to the team.”
With that mentality as his guide, Yeboah is already off to the kind of start that endears a player to their new teammates. A few goals don’t hurt, but a willingness to share the ball and put the team first goes a long way toward elevating the play of the entire squad. Though he’s only been in the North Star State for a short time, he’s already found ways to connect with his teammates.
“We have many cultures in our team, but I think, quite frankly, I have some sort of connection with all of them,” Yeboah said about his teammates. “With Wil Trapp, I have the connection that led to the goal. With Pukki, an amazing player, amazing striker, I’m always trying to learn something from him. With the Spanish guys, it's always jokes and playing two touches and all technical stuff together. So I’ve connected with all of them in one way or another. Sometimes, it’s not talking and more football. That's how I connected with Bongi, with Sang Bin. All the players have a connection.”
As the club turns its attention toward the final stretch of the season, the integration of the newest wave of signings will be incredibly important to the goal of making a playoff push in the remaining eight matches. Despite joining with less than a third of the season left to play, Yeboah is committed to making that goal a reality.
“The whole goal is to go to the playoffs,” he said. “I don't hide this is something that I think the whole team, the whole staff, is working for, and that will be amazing to do, because I feel like we have the team for it now. We definitely have the quality for it; we saw it against Seattle. We just have to adjust maybe two or three things, and we'll definitely be able to do well in the playoffs.”
