Minnesota United selected Indiana University 6-4 center back Hugo Bacharach with the ninth pick in Tuesday’s MLS SuperDraft.

He played mostly midfield in three seasons at Farleigh Dickinson and one at Indiana but is projected to drop to the back line as a pro. As a center back, he would play a position of need alongside veteran Michael Boxall.

Bacharach was born and raised in Spain and trained for a decade in LaLiga club Villarreal CF’s academy.

“He’s a good one,” Indiana coach Todd Yeagley told the MLS draft broadcast. “They got a great kid, a fantastic player. His passing is something very unique.”

The Loons made a pre-draft trade with New England. They sent $100,000 in 2024 general allocation money (GAM) away and acquired the Revs’ first- and third-round picks, 20th and 78th overall.

That left the Loons with two first-round picks — their own No. 9 and New England’s 20th — and the 67th and 78th picks as well.

With the 20th overall pick, they took 6-2 Virginia forward Marcus Calderia, who like Bacharach helped lead his team to the final-four College Cup.

New Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad provided his opinions, but the draft was conducted by staff including interim head coach Sean McAuley and assistant technical director Hank Stebbins already on board.

El-Ahmad finished his time with Barnsley in England’s third division Friday and will start work after the holidays for a team that still must hire a head coach to replace the fired Adrian Heath.