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The New England Revolution have brought 29-year-old veteran Jalil Anibaba to preseason as a trialist. Anibaba has made 171 MLS appearances to date. Over the course of his seven-year career, Anibaba has played for the Chicago Fire, Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kanas City, and the Houston Dynamo.
The former 9th-overall pick came into the league primarily as a center-back but is capable of playing anywhere across the back-four. Prior to getting drafted by the Fire, the California native played for Santa Clara for his first three years of college before transferring to the University of North Carolina his senior year. Anibaba has also represented the United States at the youth level and at the Pan-American games.
If the Revolution choose to keep Anibaba, he’ll likely be used as a squad player that can fill in anywhere across the back-line. He’d compete with Revolution’s first round draft picks, Brandon Bye and Mark Segbers for time off the bench. With multiple depth defenders in the Revolution squad, it’ll make for healthy competition.