New Minnesota United forward Kelvin Yeboah and head coach Eric Ramsay shared dinner at Bar la Grassa one night earlier this summer. Over Italian dishes at the popular Minneapolis restaurant, a first glimpse was revealed into what the Loons have in Yeboah.

“I want to do a lot of extra shootings” in training sessions, Yeboah joked in his recollection on Tuesday. While the 24-year-old Italian/Ghanian wouldn’t mind those drills to wrap up practices, there was a deeper element to the conversation.

“You felt like this is a guy that trains with real conviction and is probably going to be quite willing to upset the apple cart,” Ramsay said.

While Yeboah talked, his brother gave signs of affirmation from across the table. Ramsay picked up on that, too.

Meanwhile, Loons assistant coach and fellow dinner companion Dennis Lawrence saw a “very focused” newcomer, including Yeboah’s meticulousness on what entree to order. “Somebody with a really competitive spirit who wants to win,” Lawrence said.  “And I think if you look at his performances, that’s the way he plays.”

Lawrence pointed to Yeboah’s stint in Italy’s Serie A for a high level of competitiveness he’s already experienced. His returns have been immediate in MLS.

Yeboah has scored three goals — two on penalty kicks — and one of his passes Saturday into the 6-yard box contributed to a St. Louis own goal across his 256 minutes played in three matches. It has helped the Loons win two straight games for the first time since May. The Loons look to make it three in a row Wednesday versus FC Cincinnati at Allianz Field.

After bouncing around Europe as a loaned player in recent years, Yeboah has a 3 1/2-year contract with Minnesota through the 2027 season and a club option for 2028. With more investment made in him, he is looking to leave a stamp on MNUFC.

Before he signed his contract in July and had the nice dinner out, Ramsay and Yeboah talked over the phone. Yeboah expressed a desire for Ramsay to push him on his weakness and areas for him to develop as a player.

“He wants it to operate in a certain way,” Ramsay said. “To be honest, we haven’t had a lot of that over the course of this season, someone who is very willing to push and upset and to speak up. He’s prompted some really good discussions.

“Not everyone is going to always see things in the way he sees things, but in that sense he’s a very sort of typical No. 9 (center forward) with a big sense of self-importance, very comfortable taking center stage as you’ve seen in each of the games he’s played so far. I think that also applies to how he trains.”

Ramsay called it a “desperation” for Yeboah to win practice drills and small-sided games. He also received some words of encouragement from vice captain Wil Trapp when players were called to sprint and the repetitions became dogged during a training session last week.

“I think I got the impression from both him and his brother, he’s probably found himself in a few scrapes and whatnot in his past at various clubs,” Ramsay said. “And we’ve seen the real plus side of that so far.”

Yeboah has focused on finding a partnership with Bongi Hlongwane, who has scored three goals in the last two games, and Yeboah was speaking what he called a mangled combination of Italian and Spanish with Argentine midfielder Joaquin Pereyra after training Tuesday.

When Yeboah has scored for the Loons, his celebration has been to mimic drinking out of a cup. It started when one of Yeboah’s friends wasn’t able to come to a match due to a loss in his family.

“He loves espresso macchiato,” Yeboah explained. “He also grew up playing in Italy. So we always had the conversation about espresso macchiato, so I dedicated the celebration to him. Then everybody started loving it, so I made it mine.”

Twice Yeboah has been able to bust it out due, in part, to a penalty kick run-up that includes a hesitation before the goalkeeper commits to a side and Yeboah strikes the ball.

“It’s a rhythm,” Yeboah described. “It’s like a beat, you know? So for the goalkeeper, once you switch up the beat, it’s something very difficult for them to read on that. Where if you go straight away and shoot, it’s a 50-50, while I think I have the edge when I do that, because it gives me that 1 percent where I can see the goalkeeper more (while) he thinks (of what) he might do. I might switch it up, since I told you this.”

His competitive side rears again.