As a new year begins, eyes often turn to what the future will bring. The MLS Combine and the MLS SuperDraft are just around the corner, and over the next week and a half, many top college players will seek to make their mark on talent evaluators. While the roster can be filled out through a broad variety of mechanisms in Major League Soccer, one has become increasingly important in recent years: Homegrown players.
With all of the success of the Philadelphia Union Academy, developing homegrowns has paid dividends for the senior side as seven players on the roster are homegrown talent. Two new faces for 2019, midfielder Brenden Aaronson and goalkeeper Matt Freese are homegrowns. But in an article on MLSsoccer.com, Travis Clark took a look at players from the collegiate ranks that are also top homegrown prospects and finds new names that the Union could pursue.
Coming in at No. 5 on Clark's list is freshman winger/forward Issa Rayyan. Rayyan scored six goals and added three assists in his season at Duke en route to the ACC Freshman of the Year award. The 18-year-old from Dearborn, Michigan spent time with the Union Academy and appeared in two USL matches with Bethlehem Steel FC.
Click here for more on Rayyan, as well as the rest of Clark's homegrown prospect rankings.
