CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Charleston Battery announced on Thursday the club had signed Tah Brian Anunga and Kotaro Higashi for the 2017 season, pending league and federation approval.

The midfield pair are two of only a handful of new faces on the Charleston Battery roster this season. Anunga and Higashi join former Toronto FC II defender Skylar Thomas as the only non-returning players currently under contract with the Battery.

Anunga grew up in Cameroon and played in APEJES Academy prior to moving to America in 2015. The midfielder appeared in nine games for Wilmington Hammerheads FC in the 2015 USL season before competing for the Carolina Dynamo of the Premier Development League last year. Anunga has played for Cameroon’s national team at the U17, U20, and U23 levels, serving as captain of the U20s.

Battery head coach Mike Anhaeuser has used Anunga as a holding midfielder next to creative players like Justin Portillo and Ataulla Guerra in many of the team’s preseason matches. Anunga’s pace and athleticism allow him to cover a lot of ground and act as a safety valve behind the team’s playmakers. The Cameroonian native has shown his versatility since arriving in Charleston, earning valuable minutes in the center of the park and as an outside back.

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A native of Japan, Higashi earned a spot on the team’s Carolina Challenge Cup roster during his trial with the club, and scored a 92nd-minute equalizer for the Battery against Seattle Sounders FC on the opening night of the CCC.

The Japanese playmaker is very comfortable on the ball and will bring another creative presence to the side. The goal Higashi scored against the Sounders showed the attacking awareness he’s developed through years of playing at a high level all over the world. The 27-year-old most recently spent time with the Bonnyrigg White Eagles of the National Premier Leagues NSW in Sydney, Australia.