|
From MLS
Top Young Talents Turning Heads |
|
|
Photo Credit: New York City Football Club
The youth movement continues across Major League Soccer, with young stars making their mark on the pitch and others making headlines as they arrive to the first team. On Monday, New York City FC signed academy product Maximo Carrizo (DOWNLOAD PHOTOS), who at age 14 became the youngest player to sign a first-team contract in MLS history. Carrizo signed a Homegrown contract on his 14th birthday and is the seventh Homegrown signing in NYCFC history, joining Christian McFarlane who signed with NYCFC at 14 years, 234 days old last year. Carrizo’s contract surpassed the previous record signing of Axel Kei , who inked a contract with Real Salt Lake at 14 years and 15 days old on January 14, 2022. Prior to Kei, the previous record, established by Freddy Adu, was held for 18 years.Just 14 minutes into his MLS debut, 17-year-old Atlanta United Homegrown Caleb Wiley punctuated his debut performance with an 89th-minute clincher in the club’s 3-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City. Wiley initially joined the Atlanta United Academy at the age of 11 as a member of the club’s inaugural U-12 team in 2016 and had steadily climbed through their developmental system prior to making his first appearance with the first team in Week 1.Three of the top five selections in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas also made their MLS debuts in Week 1, including No. 1 overall pick Ben Bender, who closed the first-ever match for Charlotte FC, and fifth-overall selection Kipp Keller, who started and logged 66 minutes on defense while helping Austin FC to a clean sheet in their 5-0 season-opening victory over FC Cincinnati. |