Manu Duah

Manu Duah
Duah playing for San Diego FC in 2025
Personal information
Date of birth (2005-06-05) 5 June 2005
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
San Diego FC
Number 26
Youth career
–2024 Santa Barbara SC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 14 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2025– San Diego FC 14 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16:09, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

Manu Duah (born 5 June 2005) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and center-back for Major League Soccer club San Diego FC. A Generation Adidas player, he was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft.

College career

Duah played for one season as a freshman for UC Santa Barbara, appearing in 14 games for the Gauchos.[2]

Starting in all 14 of his appearances, Duah helped the Gauchos to a 12–5–5 record in the 2024 season. Duah's collegiate career ended at the 2024 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament where the Gauchos beat UCLA 1–0 in the first round in overtime before falling to Stanford in round 2 in penalties.[3]

Club career

Duah was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft by San Diego FC (SDFC). With the selection, Duah became the first-ever draft pick for San Diego FC, an expansion club.[4][5] SDFC coach Mikey Varas has said that he believes Duah has potential to "dominate" the league.[6]

On 25 June 2025, Duah made his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut in San Diego FC's 5–3 away win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC.[7] On 19 July 2025, he made his first home start in a 1–1 draw against Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Despite scoring an own goal, he was selected as the player of the match.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "Manu Duah | San Diego FC". sandiegofc.com. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Manu Duah Stats". ucsbgauchos.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  3. ^ "UC Santa Barbara's 2024 Campaign Concludes at Stanford in NCAA Tournament Second Round Match". bigwest.org. 24 November 2024. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  4. ^ "San Diego FC takes Manu Duah first overall in 2025 MLS SuperDraft". ESPN.com. 21 December 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  5. ^ "San Diego FC select UCSB midfielder Manu Duah with the No. 1 overall pick in MLS SuperDraft, St. Louis University's Max Floriani and Wisconsin's Dean Boltz go No. 2 and 3 respectively | Goal.com South Africa". www.goal.com. 2024-12-21. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
  6. ^ "Expansion San Diego FC make Manu Duah No. 1 pick in MLS draft". Reuters. 20 December 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Duah Makes MLS Debut in Big Win". University of California, Santa Barbara. 2025-07-07. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  8. ^ "Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. San Diego FC Match Report – Wednesday June 25, 2025". FBRef. 25 June 2025. Archived from the original on 27 April 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  9. ^ "San Diego FC stay top of the West after 1-1 deadlock with Whitecaps". The Sporting Tribune. 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2025-07-22.