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Soccer

LAFC acquires Mohamed El-Munir from Orlando City in exchange for Joao Moutinho

Mohamed El-Munir appeared in 26 regular-season games for Orlando City last year, his first in MLS.
Mohamed El-Munir appeared in 26 regular-season games for Orlando City last year, his first in MLS.
(John Raoux / Associated Press)
By Kevin Baxter
Staff WriterFollow
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The Los Angeles Football Club on Tuesday traded Portuguese defender Joao Moutinho, the top pick in January’s MLS SuperDraft, to Orlando City for Libyan international Mohamed El-Munir.

El-Munir appeared in 26 regular-season games, starting 23, for Orlando City last year, his first in MLS. Before that he helped Serbia’s FK Partizan Belgrade earn its 27th league title, playing in seven matches across all competitions in 2017.

He has also played with Al-Ittihad Tripoli in the Libyan Premier League, with Serbia’s Jagodina and with FC Dinamo Minsk in the Belarusian Premier League. Internationally, El-Munir took part in the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying cycles for Libya.

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“Mohamed showed a great deal of potential and performed very well in his first season in MLS,” John Thorrington, LAFC’s general manager and executive vice president of soccer operations, said in a statement. “He is a dynamic, versatile player who will translate well to how we play. “

In his rookie season Moutinho, 20, appeared in 14 regular season matches, starting 10.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11

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Kevin Baxter

Kevin Baxter writes about soccer and other things for the Los Angeles Times, where he has worked for 27 years. He has covered seven World Cups, four Olympic Games, six World Series and a Super Bowl and has contributed to three Pulitzer Prize-winning series at The Times and Miami Herald. An essay he wrote in fifth grade was voted best in the class. He has a cool dog.

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