KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Swope Park Rangers announced on Friday the club had signed Venezuelan forward Jose Barragan and French midfielder Rassambek Akhmatov. The pair will be added to the roster pending league and federation approval.

Barragan, 18, joins the Rangers after spending the last six months with Mexican club CF Pachuca’s Under-20 team. Prior to his time with Pachuca, Barragan featured for Patriotas Boyacá in Colombia for two seasons, having joined the Tunja-based side from Zuila FC in his home country of Venezuela at the start of 2016.

Barragan, who has both Venezuelan and Colombian citizenship, has been a member of the Venezuela National Team at various youth levels, including one appearance with the country’s Under-20 side – scoring on his debut in November 2017, shortly after the team had finished in second place at the FIFA U20 World Cup in South Korea last summer.

Akhmatov, 22, who also has dual citizenship to France and Russia, spent the last two summers with Premier Development League side Miami City FC. Born in the Chechen region of Russia but raised in Strasbourg, France, Akhmatov spent time with FR Haguenau’s Academy until the age of 18, before moving on to fellow French side FCSR Obernai.

During Obernai’s offseason, Akhmatov spent his first season with Miami City FC in 2016 before returning to France and joining ASP Vauban Strasbourg for the 2016-17 season. From there, he once again linked up with Miami City following ASP Vauban’s season and spent the 2017 PDL season with the club, tallying a goal and an assist in eight appearances.

KICKERS ADD PAIR TO SQUAD: The Richmond Kickers announced the signing of midfielder Prince Agyemang and goalkeeper Brandon Barnes for the remainder of the 2018 season. Both players will be available for selection this Saturday night as the Kickers host Bethlehem Steel FC at City Stadium. 

Agyemang joins the Kickers after spending last season at Ontinyent CF in the Spanish Segunda División B. The Right to Dream Academy product signed his first contract with Limerick FC in Ireland, through a partnership the club established with the Academy, where he went on to make 31 appearances over two stints with the club. After making just six appearances with New Edubiase United in Ghana, Agyemang joined Sporting Covilhã, playing in 19 matches with the Portuguese side during the 2016/17 campaign.

Barnes signs his first professional contract with the Kickers following a season with Laredo Heat SC in which he helped the club to an undefeated season with 10 wins. The Illinois Fox Valley Conference, All-Conference goalkeeper in high school went on to play at Seton Hall University. Limited to just eight games, Barnes posted 28 saves in 672 minutes of action in his redshirt sophomore season in 2015. He continued his collegiate career at Bradley University as a graduate student, which saw him named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team in his only season, along with four MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors and ranked third in the nation in total saves with 103.