Utah Royals go international to continue roster build with youth duo from Sweden, Netherlands

Utah's NWSL side that will begin play this spring added Swedish MF Agnes Nyberg and Dutch MF Dana Foederer on two-year contracts for 2024-25.

The Utah Royals are going international.

The 2024 NWSL expansion side added a pair of international midfielders as the roster build continued this week, first signing Swedish midfielder Agnes Nyberg before grabbing Dutch international Dana Foederer on a pair of two-year deals through the 2025 season.

Nyberg, 23, joins the Utah club after previous stints at IK Uppsala, where she represented her hometown for five of the past six seasons in the Swedish first and second division.

Foederer, 21, played recently as a defender for Dutch Eredivisie side Fortuna Sittard and also has experience as a two-way midfielder in four professional seasons with PSV and Heerenveen, as well. The longtime Dutch youth international has represented her country at the U17, U19 and U20 levels, scoring seven goals in 28 appearances for the KNVB.

“I’m very very VERY excited to make this move; it feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Foederer said. “Coming to the NWSL and to the Utah Royals represents the perfect chance to improve myself as player and as a human being. Everything in the U.S. football scene is bigger and better; the Utah facilities and the Royals home stadium are the best in the world, and I cannot wait to get to know the fans and be a part of the community.”

Both players will report to preseason training camp in late January at Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah, joining a roster that now numbers 17 players ahead of the club’s inaugural game March 16-17 in the league’s opening weekend.

“As we sprint towards the preseason, all of us in Utah are elated to add Dana to the group,” Utah sporting director Kelly Cousins said. “Again, each of these pieces will soon form a team, an entity where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts for 2024 and beyond. Dana’s experience as a youth international and as a young professional have created this opportunity for her continued growth and development, and we will depend on her excitement, work rate and expertise as we grow and evolve, on and off the pitch.”

Here’s a look at the club’s roster after Friday’s move, one week out from the NWSL Draft held during the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Anaheim, California:

• GK: Mandy Haught (Gotham FC), Carly Nelson (Orlando Pride)

• DF: Kaleigh Riehl (San Diego Wave), Madison Pogarch (San Diego Wave), Kate Del Fava (KC Current), Addisyn Merrick (KC Current)

• MF: Mikayla Cluff (Orlando Pride), Michele Vasconcelos (Portland Thorns), Emily Gray (North Carolina Courage), Frankie Tagliaferri (North Carolina Courage), Agnes Nybert (IK Uppsala – Sweden), Dana Foederer (Fortuna Sittard – Netherlands)

• FW: Hannah Betfort (Portland Thorns), Imani Dorsey (Gotham FC), Paige Monaghan (Racing Louisville), Ify Onumonu (Gotham FC), Cameron Tucker (Houston Dash)