It’s official. Aaron Long is a member of the Los Angeles Football Club.

LAFC announced Wednesday that it signed free agent defender to a two-year contract.

“Aaron is among the top central defenders in MLS and the U.S. National Team pool, and we are incredibly excited he has chosen to come to LAFC,” LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington said in a statment. “We are confident that Aaron’s ability and experience will prove to be an important part of our continued success as a club. I would like to thank his representative, Shaun Higgins, for his help throughout the process. Our supporters and entire organization look forward to welcoming Aaron, his wife Elise, and their family to LA.”

Long, 30, spent the past seven seasons with the New York Red Bulls.

He joined the Red Bulls in 2016 and quickly emerged as one of the top defenders in MLS. Long was named the 2018 MLS defender of the year and was an MLS All-Star in 2018 and 2022 while helping lead the Red Bulls to the 2018 Supporters’ Shield.

A member of the 2022 U.S. National Team at the World Cup, Long is a Southern California native from Oak Hills, Calif. With the Red Bulls, Long made 175 appearances (169 starts) and scored 14 goals and added six assists in 15,061 minutes across all competitions, including 15 Concacaf Champions League appearances.

Long has played 29 times for the USMNT, scoring three goals and two assists in all competitions. He appeared in two 2022 World Cup Qualifiers before being a part of the U.S. team at the 2022 World Cup. He made his debut in a 1-1 draw vs. Peru in an international friendly on Oct. 17, 2018 and was named to the 2019 Gold Cup Best XI after scoring two goals in five games.

\A star at Serrano High School, Long was a two-time Big West All-conference selection at UC Riverside and made 71 appearances, registering 13 goals and five assists from 2010-2013. In 2014 he was drafted in the second round (36th overall) by the Portland Timbers and went on loan stints with USL sides Orange County Blues and Sacramento Republic where he earned the 2014 USL Cup. Long signed with the Seattle Sounders in July, 2014 and went on loan with the Tacoma Defiance (formerly Seattle Sounders II) where he made 30 appearances and registered one goal and one assist during the 2015 season.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.