Itamar Keinan has been named the club’s technical staff as the first-ever Director of Player Personnel for the New Mexico United, the USL team announced.

Keinan will be in charge of scouting for the United in the U.S. and internationally and negotiate player contracts alongside head coach and technical director Troy Lesesne.

“I knew right away that I’d be interested,” Keinan said. “Not only the position, but it being with New Mexico United. For me, that would be the number one choice in the league. My number one choice in the USL would be New Mexico United. So for me, it was a no-brainer.”

Keinan grew up in Israel and has been involved in soccer as a player, coach and agent for more than 20 years. He played collegiately at West Texas A&M University and later served as a lead trainer before starting Total Football Soccer Agency. As owner and founder, he has represented dozens of players in leagues in the United States and around the world.

“Bringing on someone like Itamar is not something you’re going to see often— or at all so far — in the USL Championship, but it is really a statement of where we aspire to be,"  New Mexico United CEO/President Peter Trevisani said. “Soccer is a global sport, and it is played all over the world … right now we’re really missing that international piece. We need to make the world a little bit smaller, and Itamar has the ability to do that for us.”

Lesesne is thrilled to have Keinan onboard. “I think we have to look beyond just the norm of the players we know,” Lesesne said. “I want to make sure that we have the right person to facilitate those transactions, and Itamar is the absolute perfect person to do that.”