This week, Hartford Athletic announced the returns of six additional players: forwards Michee Ngalina and Adewale Obalola, midfielder Junior Moreira, and defenders Sebastian Anderson, TJ Presthus and Baboucarr Njie. The sextet joins defender Jordan Scarlett and goalkeeper Antony Siaha in returning from the 2025 squad, alongside defender Matt Real who is the sole new addition to have been announced by the club.
Ngalina returns to Hartford for a third season, and while he has rarely been at his electric best over the past two seasons, he has battled through some minor injuries to land among the all-time club leaders in a number of categories, including assists (3rd), goals (4th), minutes (4th) and appearances (7th). He’s also been named to the USL Championship Team of the Week four times over the past two seasons, tied with Mamadou Dieng and Kyle Edwards for the second-most in club history, behind only Danny Barrera’s six. And for a player who has seemingly been around forever, he’s only just about to turn 26 years old, and his career peak may very well still be in front of him.
Anderson arrived in Hartford in 2025 as one to watch. His previous success with Brendan Burke in Colorado Springs – where he recorded seven assists in 28 appearances in all competitions – suggested that while his MLS career might have been cut short, he was a player who could thrive at this level given the right circumstances.
For Hartford this past season, he absolutely thrived, recording nine assists while also tallying three goals as he appeared in 38 of Hartford’s 40 games, and set a club single-season minutes record of 3,381. He also won’t even turn 24 until August; there’s every possibility that by the end of the season, he’s cemented himself as one of the best wing-backs in the USL Championship.
Presthus might have been the most pleasant surprise of the entire season. Signed late in the offseason, he suffered through a few shaky appearances in the early going, but quickly became one of the mainstays of the Hartford defense.
With USL veterans Joe Farrell, Jordan Scarlett and Arturo Diz Pe to compete against, it would have been easy for Presthus to have been merely a rotational player, but he earned his minutes – all 2,812 of them – good for the fourth-most on the team this past season and was firmly ensconced as a starter, including being selected for both the USL Cup final and the Latics’ playoff loss to Pittsburgh. He’s another young player too, just about to turn 23, and is another player who could be in a position to take a big step forward in just his second professional season.
Obalola, who has just turned 21 – continuing a theme here – didn’t quite have the same impact playing just under 1,200 minutes in all competitions, making five goal contributions along the way. Following the departure of Dieng, he didn’t really establish himself as the go-to number nine and on occasion, seemed to make exactly the wrong choice when presented with the option to shoot or cross. Nevertheless, he put in the hard minutes that Burke demands from his forwards, and he absolutely will be one to watch in 2026 as Hartford look to find a consistent source of goals.
Moreira was for much of the first half of the season, something of a forgotten man, making just nine appearances through the middle of July with only four of those lasting more than twenty minutes. In the back half of the season, however, he was suddenly in the lineup, appearing in 19 of 21 games, including being selected to start both the USL Cup semifinal and final, playing all 90 minutes in the latter.
It was during this stretch of games that Hartford’s results entirely turned around, and while Moreira was not solely or even chiefly responsible for the reversal, his contributions in midfield were a key part of the hottest stretch in club history. Another youngster - he’ll turn 23 early in the 2026 season - Burke will be looking for him to take a step forward and carve out a place as a first-choice USL Championship midfielder.
Njie was a key acquisition in the middle of 2025, giving Burke depth at fullback and occasionally at left center back that allowed him to rotate his squad and keep everyone as fresh as possible. He only made 12 appearances before suffering a season-ending injury prior to the final game of the season, but they were critical minutes that helped the Latics to lift the USL Cup and also chase down a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
It’s possible that he might not be 100% fit at the start of the season, but he will once again give Burke valuable depth when he is available, and provide additional cover if Emmanuel Samadia departs at any point before the conclusion of the season.
Hartford have now announced nine players for 2026, and with players having reporting for training camp this week, further announcements – including new players – should be forthcoming very soon.
