The Carolina RailHawks brought in their biggest name so far this offseason as the team made its signing of 20-year-old defender Gale Agbossoumonde on Thursday.

Agbossoumonde has experience playing on the U-23 U.S. men's national team. He comes to Carolina on loan from Portugese franchise Estoril Praia.

The defender is in his last year of a contract with Traffic Sports USA, which also owns the RailHawks. The tenuous relationship between Agbossoumonde and Traffic Sports was documented by ESPN.com in 2010.

After struggling to receive much playing time in his previous stops in Germany, Sweden and Portugal, he reportedly turned down offers from Major League Soccer this season.