Striker Svantesson brings height, goals to 2018 Battery

The Charleston Battery have announced the signing of striker Ian Svantesson ahead of the 2018 season on a one year deal.

Svantesson led the Tulsa Roughnecks with 11 goals on the way to a playoff berth in the west, and also was amongst the team leaders in chances created, minutes per goal and key passes. The signing makes perfect sense for the Black and Yellow following the departures of Romario Williams and Heviel Cordoves, given the Battery’s use of strong and powerful center forwards.

It’s also worth noting that Svantesson played with Joe Kuzminski in college at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Kuzminski a Junior during Svantesson’s Senior year in 2015, and also with Jarad van Schaik with Rayo OKC in 2015, his first year as a pro. Coach Anhaeuser puts a lot of stock in togetherness, and will no doubt be hoping his old teammates can help him settle into his new surroundings.

Svantesson is a part of the squad along with nine of the 2017 squad which finished 2nd in the East, along with the aforementioned Kuzminski, and van Schaik, along with defenders Quinton Griffith, Skylar Thomas, and captain Taylor Mueller, and midfielders Tah Brian Anunga, Naveal Hackshaw, Kotaro Higashi, and Attaula Guerra.

The Battery will next look to open trials to add to their ranks, which take place on January 26th and 27th, with a second pair of dates from February 9th and 10th before a combine shortly before this year’s edition of the Carolina Challenge Cup. The Battery have signed at least one player from the open trials since they first began in 2002.

You can view some of the best of what our new signing could offer on the club’s website.