FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution announced today that the club has acquired defender Antonio Mlinar Delamea via a transfer from Olimpija Ljubljana. The center back was acquired using Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) and will be added to the Revolution roster upon the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and P-1 Visa. Delamea will begin preseason training with the Revolution on Wednesday in Foxborough, Mass.
“We are very pleased to add to our defense with an experienced center back like Toni,” Revolution General Manager Michael Burns said. “We’re excited to have him here for the beginning of training camp and we look forward to getting him a full preseason of action on the field with his new teammates.”
Delamea, 25, has made a combined 134 appearances across all competitions in his senior career in Slovenia, registering five goals with three assists since 2008. His previous experience includes five campaigns with NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2011-17) in Slovenia’s top-flight PrvaLiga, and three seasons with NK Interblock Ljubljana (2008-11) in both the PrvaLiga (2008-10) and the Slovenian Second League (2010-11). After returning from an injury, he helped Olimpija win the club’s first PrvaLiga title in 2015-16.
During the 2016-17 season, Delamea made 20 appearances and served as captain for Olimpija Ljubljana, starting 19 games at center back. He has played a part in eight clean sheet performances this season and has helped Olimpija to a tie for the most points in the PrvaLiga table.
The Celje, Slovenia native made his senior international debut for the Slovenia National Team on Nov. 14, 2016, appearing as a halftime substitute in a friendly against Poland. Prior to making his senior national team debut, Delamea represented Slovenia at various youth levels, including eight appearances for the Under-21 squad and six appearances with the Under-19s.
TRANSACTION: New England Revolution acquire defender Antonio Mlinar Delamea via transfer from Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) on Jan. 24, 2017.
Name: Antonio Mlinar Delamea
Position: Defender
Height: 6-0
Weight: 160
Hometown: Celje, Slovenia
Date of Birth: June 10, 1991 (Celje, Slovenia)
Nationality: Slovenia
Last Club: Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)
#NERevs sign defender Antonio Mlinar Delamea. Welcome to the Family, Delamea! pic.twitter.com/vhN7uQRW1O
— NewEnglandRevolution (@NERevolution) January 25, 2017
