Attacking Midfielder Michael Nanchoff Signs With Tampa Bay

The Tampa Bay Rowdies continue building their roster for the 2016 North American Soccer League season with the addition of attacking midfielder Michael Nanchoff. Nanchoff is on a one-year contract with a club option for 2017. 

Nanchoff, 27, joins the Tampa Bay Rowdies after spending the last two seasons with the Portland Timbers. He split his time between the MLS Cup Champion team and Timbers 2 in the USL, scoring two goals in six appearances for Timbers 2 and making four appearances for the first team.

"Michael is a natural left-footed player, but he can play the central attacking midfield role as well," Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell said. "He helps us in areas that we're always looking to improve on. He was in a positive, winning environment for the past couple of years and he was consistently in the 18-man match-day squad for Portland, so we're looking for him to bring his winning mentality here."

Nanchoff is now the fourth player to trade in the Timbers’ green and gold for the Tampa Bay Rowdies’. He joins Keith Savage, Kalif Alhassan, and Danny Mwanga for the 2016 season. 

After playing collegiately at Akron University, Nanchoff was drafted 8th overall by the Vancouver Whitecaps in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. He is now the third member of the Tampa Bay Rowdies with ties to Akron, joining assistant coach Stuart Dobson and defender Zac Portillos, though he didn’t overlap with either. 

Nanchoff played two seasons for Vancouver before joining the Timbers in 2013. He spent part of the 2013 season on loan to Sweden’s Jönköpings Södra IF, scoring twice for the Swedish side before re-joining Portland for the 2014 season.