New York City FC on Tuesday signed U.S. midfielder Mix Diskerud on a free transfer, with the club using its No. 1 spot in Major League Soccer's allocation ranking.
Welcome to The Club, @MixDiskerud. #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/olYhloO4mw
- New York City FC (@NYCFC) January 13, 2015
The deal was set to bring in the 24-year-old as NYCFC's third big-name signing alongside Spanish striker David Villa and England midfield stalwart Frank Lampard, whose arrival at the club has been delayed until July.
Diskerud was out of contract after spending much of the past three years at Rosenborg in Norway.
He did not actually play at the World Cup in Brazil last summer but made the 23-man squad, emerging as one of manager Jurgen Klinsmann's favorites over the past year-plus and inheriting the No. 10 shirt when Klinsmann made the controversial decision to leave national-team fixture Landon Donovan home.
Diskerud has 25 caps for the U.S. national team after making the decision to represent his American-born mother's country as opposed to his Norwegian father's.
Diskerud had flirted with a move to MLS before after spending his entire professional career in Norway and Belgium.
NYCFC fans became aware last week of the club's (and the league's) handling of the Lampard situation with the club now saying Lampard will join in July.
Mix: "I can't wait to live in New York!" #NYCFC https://t.co/znrMnjlaZB
- New York City FC (@NYCFC) January 13, 2015
Last summer, NYCFC announced that Lampard would join the new MLS team as the season begins in March, but his success with Manchester City in the past few months led the Premier League champions to extend his time in England until June.
Diskerud and Lampard eventually linking together at the heart of manager Jason Kreis' midfield will give the expansion franchise quality down the middle behind Villa.
ESPN's Marc Stein contributed to this report.