DETROIT – Detroit City FC announced on Tuesday the club had signed goalkeeper Carlos Saldaña to a two-year contract which will see Saldaña in the Rouge and Gold through the 2025 USL Championship season. The transaction is pending league and federation approval.

A native of El Nayar, Nayarit, Mexico, Saldaña moved to the United States early on in life and joined Saratoga, Calif.-based De Anza Force’s youth academy before joining the famous C.D. Guadalajara Academy to continue growing his skills.

The 27-year-old was part of Guadalajara’s organization between 2014 and 2020, and in that span made 30 appearances for the club’s reserve side. He was also loaned out to Tepatitlán F.C., where he made two appearances.

Late in 2021, Saldaña returned to Northern California and signed with the USL Championship’s Sacramento Republic FC and remained there until the end of the 2023 season. In total, Saldaña started in 22 matches for Sacramento Republic FC, keeping eight clean sheets and making 66 saves.

New Detroit City FC Head Coach Danny Dichio worked with Saldaña during his time at Sacramento Republic FC before joining Le Rouge ahead of the 2024 season.

Analysis

Carlos Saldaña arrives in Detroit City FC as a strong back-up option to returning starter Nathan Steinwascher for the club, just as he was for Sacramento Republic FC. The 27-year-old was an above average performer in Sacramento, posting a save percentage of 75.8 percent over his time with the club and a Goals Prevented mark of -2.55, allowing a goals-against average of 1.00 in his 22 appearances.

Coming off a season in which he was nominated for the Championship’s Goalkeeper of the Year award, local product Steinwascher will enter the season as Le Rouge’s No. 1, but Saldaña’s presence will ensure he has plenty of competition in training in the year to come.