Homegrown Player Rule (Major League Soccer)

The Homegrown Player Rule is a Major League Soccer program that allows MLS teams to sign local players from their own development academies directly to MLS first team rosters. Before the creation of the rule in 2008,[1] every player entering Major League Soccer would have to be assigned through one of the existing MLS player allocation processes, such as the MLS SuperDraft.

MLS roster rules allow a team to sign players to contracts similar to Generation adidas contracts,[2] which do not count against the MLS salary budget and may earn a much higher salary than the league minimum. MLS has since removed this wording from the roster rules.[3] That means homegrown players will not count against the salary budget only if they are registered using supplemental roster slots, but will still count against the salary budget if they are registered using senior roster slots. There is, however, supplementary salary budget made by MLS only for homegrown players that are registered using senior roster slots called homegrown player funds.[4]

To place a player on its homegrown player list, making him eligible to sign as a homegrown player, players must have resided in that club's home territory and participated in the club's youth development system for at least one year, as well as meeting other unspecified league requirements.[5]

If a player on a team's homegrown list goes to college or U17, U20, and U23 United States men's national soccer teams, he remains eligible to sign as a homegrown player at any time as long as he is registered with the club as a homegrown player first.[6]

In 2014, Seattle's DeAndre Yedlin became the first MLS Homegrown player to compete in a World Cup.[7]

Current Homegrown Players in MLS

Signed as HGP	Player	Nation	Current club	2019 Guaranteed Compensation [8]
2017	Andrew Carleton	USA	Atlanta United FC	$97,400
2018	George Bello	USA	Atlanta United FC	$79,000
2018	Lagos Kunga	USA	Atlanta United FC	$73,250
2020	George Campbell	USA	Atlanta United FC	$n/a
2020	Tyler Wolff	USA	Atlanta United FC	$n/a
2021	Efrain Morales	USA	Atlanta United FC	$n/a
2017	Djordje Mihailovic	USA	Chicago Fire	$111,000
2019	Jeremiah Gutjahr	USA	Chicago Fire	$56,250
2019	Andre Reynolds II	USA	Chicago Fire	$64,250
2019	Gabriel Slonina	USA	Chicago Fire	$74,800
2020	Nicholas Slonina	USA	Chicago Fire	$n/a
2020	Mauricio Pineda	USA	Chicago Fire	$n/a
2020	Brian Gutiérrez	USA	Chicago Fire	$n/a
2020	Javier Casas	USA	Chicago Fire	$n/a
2020	Alex Monis	USA	Chicago Fire	$n/a
2020	Allan Rodríguez	USA	Chicago Fire	$n/a
2020	Zico Bailey^	USA	FC Cincinnati	$n/a
2012	Kellyn Acosta^	USA	Colorado Rapids	$665,000
2016	Auston Trusty^	USA	Colorado Rapids	$124,100
2017	Kortne Ford	USA	Colorado Rapids	$85,000
2018	Sam Vines	USA	Colorado Rapids	$81,250
2018	Cole Bassett	USA	Colorado Rapids	$84,000
2019	Matt Hundley	USA	Colorado Rapids	$98,000
2019	Sebastian Anderson	USA	Colorado Rapids	$80,917
2020	Will Vint^	USA	Colorado Rapids	$n/a
2010	Jon Kempin^	USA	Columbus Crew SC	$71,664
2012	Matt Lampson	USA	Columbus Crew SC	$70,250
2013	Gyasi Zardes^	USA	Columbus Crew SC	$1,471,667
2014	Jordan Hamilton^	CAN	Columbus Crew SC	$137,659
2018	Grant Lillard^	USA	Columbus Crew SC	$97,500
2019	Aboubacar Keita	USA	Columbus Crew SC	$110,000
2020	Aidan Morris	USA	Columbus Crew SC	$n/a
2020	Sebastian Berhalter	USA	Columbus Crew SC	$n/a
2019	Donovan Pines	USA	D.C. United	$102,000
2019	Griffin Yow	USA	D.C. United	$76,368
2019	Moses Nyeman	USA	D.C. United	$n/a
2020	Kevin Paredes	USA	D.C. United	$n/a
2016	Paxton Pomykal	USA	FC Dallas	$105,000
2017	Jesus Ferreira	USA	FC Dallas	$70,250
2017	Bryan Reynolds	USA	FC Dallas	$70,250
2017	Reggie Cannon	USA	FC Dallas	$80,250
2018	Brandon Servania	USA	FC Dallas	$211,000
2018	Thomas Roberts	USA	FC Dallas	$138,000
2019	Edwin Cerrillo	USA	FC Dallas	$100,250
2019	Dante Sealy	USA	FC Dallas	$108,400
2019	Ricardo Pepi	USA	FC Dallas	$113,000
2020	Eddie Munjoma	USA	FC Dallas	$n/a
2020	Tanner Tessmann	USA	FC Dallas	$n/a
2020	Carlos Avilez	MEX	FC Dallas	$n/a
2017	Memo Rodriguez	USA	Houston Dynamo	$82,750
2019	Erik McCue	SWE	Houston Dynamo	$76,250
2020	Marcelo Palomino	USA	Houston Dynamo	$n/a
2021	Juan Castilla	COL	Houston Dynamo	$n/a
2021	Danny Rios	USA	Houston Dynamo	$n/a
2010	Juan Agudelo^	USA	Inter Miami	$605,000
2011	Victor Ulloa^	MEX	Inter Miami	$212,500
2013	Wil Trapp^	USA	Inter Miami	$593,746
2015	Jay Chapman^	CAN	Inter Miami	$138,500
2018	David Norman Jr.^	CAN	Inter Miami	$58,225
2016	Danilo Acosta^	USA	LA Galaxy	$110,000
2018	Efrain Alvarez	USA	LA Galaxy	$75,606
2019	Ethan Zubak	USA	LA Galaxy	$78,125
2020	Eric Lopez	USA	LA Galaxy	$n/a
2020	Cameron Dunbar	USA	LA Galaxy	$n/a
2020	Jonathan Perez	USA	LA Galaxy	$n/a
2020	Bryce Duke^	USA	Los Angeles FC	$n/a
2020	Erik Dueñas	USA	Los Angeles FC	$n/a
2020	Tony Leone	MEX	Los Angeles FC	$n/a
2020	Christian Torres	USA	Los Angeles FC	$n/a
2020	Fred Emmings	LUX	Minnesota United	$n/a
2014	Anthony Jackson-Hamel	CAN	Montreal Impact	$175,000
2018	James Pantemis	CAN	Montreal Impact	$70,250
2019	Mathieu Choinière	CAN	Montreal Impact	$86,390
2019	Clément Bayiha	CAN	Montreal Impact	$67,125
2019	Karifa Yao	CAN	Montreal Impact	$60,466
2020	Jonathan Sirois	CAN	Montreal Impact	$n/a
2020	Tomas Giraldo	CAN	Montreal Impact	$n/a
2020	Keesean Ferdinand	CAN	Montreal Impact	$n/a
2016	Derrick Jones^	USA	Nashville SC	$80,900
2011	Diego Fagúndez	URU	New England Revolution	$205,000
2013	Scott Caldwell	USA	New England Revolution	$153,209
2018	Isaac Angking	USA	New England Revolution	$75,250
2019	Nicolas Firmino	BRA	New England Revolution	$71,167
2019	Justin Rennicks	USA	New England Revolution	$115,000
2020	Damian Rivera	USA	New England Revolution	$n/a
2017	James Sands	USA	New York City FC	$105,000
2018	Joe Scally	USA	New York City FC	$78,067
2019	Justin Haak	USA	New York City FC	$56,250
2019	Tayvon Gray	USA	New York City FC	$n/a
2015	Sean Davis	USA	New York Red Bulls	$327,500
2016	Alex Muyl	USA	New York Red Bulls	$127,750
2018	Ben Mines	USA	New York Red Bulls	$63,243
2019	Omir Fernandez	USA	New York Red Bulls	$95,000
2020	John Tolkin	USA	New York Red Bulls	$n/a
2016	Mason Stajduhar	USA	Orlando City	$70,875
2019	Benji Michel	USA	Orlando City	$116,250
2020	David Loera	USA	Orlando City	$n/a
2020	Jordan Bender	USA	Orlando City	$n/a
2020	Michael Halliday	USA	Orlando City	$n/a
2018	Anthony Fontana	USA	Philadelphia Union	$70,260
2018	Matthew Real	USA	Philadelphia Union	$57,225
2018	Mark McKenzie	USA	Philadelphia Union	$82,225
2019	Brenden Aaronson	USA	Philadelphia Union	$95,809
2019	Matt Freese	USA	Philadelphia Union	$77,650
2020	Cole Turner	USA	Philadelphia Union	$n/a
2020	Jack de Vries	USA	Philadelphia Union	$120,556
2021	Nathan Harriel	USA	Philadelphia Union	$n/a
2017	Marco Farfan	USA	Portland Timbers	$80,250
2018	Eryk Williamson^	USA	Portland Timbers	$136,500
2020	Blake Bodily	USA	Portland Timbers	$n/a
2014	Justen Glad	USA	Real Salt Lake	$345,000
2018	Aaron Herrera	USA	Real Salt Lake	$86,000
2018	Corey Baird	USA	Real Salt Lake	$70,008
2019	Julian Vazquez	MEX	Real Salt Lake	$66,250
2019	Luis Arriaga	USA	Real Salt Lake	$56,250
2019	David Ochoa	USA	Real Salt Lake	$70,250
2019	Erik Holt	USA	Real Salt Lake	$70,250
2019	Tate Schmitt	USA	Real Salt Lake	$70,250
2020	Milan Iloski	USA	Real Salt Lake	$n/a
2020	Chris Garcia	USA	Real Salt Lake	$n/a
2014	Tommy Thompson	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	$175,000
2017	Nick Lima	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	$218,438
2018	JT Marcinkowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	$147,000
2018	Jacob Akanyirige	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	$64,225
2018	Gilbert Fuentes	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	$92,000
2019	Cade Cowell	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	$67,225
2020	Casey Walls	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	$n/a
2020	Emi Ochoa	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	$n/a
2013	Harry Shipp^	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	$235,000
2016	Jordan Morris	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	$619,600
2018	Handwalla Bwana	KEN	Seattle Sounders FC	$57,225
2019	Trey Muse	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	$65,000
2019	Danny Leyva	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	$89,872
2019	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	$85,750
2020	Josh Atencio	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	$n/a
2020	Ethan Dobbelaere	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	$n/a
2020	Shandon Hopeau	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	$n/a
2011	Richard Sánchez^	MEX	Sporting Kansas City	$152,500
2016	Dániel Sallói	HUN	Sporting Kansas City	$144,125
2017	Gianluca Busio	USA	Sporting Kansas City	$90,000
2018	Jaylin Lindsey	USA	Sporting Kansas City	$88,000
2018	Wan Kuzain	USA	Sporting Kansas City	$70,875
2019	Tyler Freeman	USA	Sporting Kansas City	$82,750
2019	Cameron Duke	USA	Sporting Kansas City	$69,250
2019	Felipe Hernandez	USA	Sporting Kansas City	$56,250
2020	John Pulskamp	USA	Sporting Kansas City	$n/a
2014	Marky Delgado^	USA	Toronto FC	$253,000
2018	Ayo Akinola	USA	Toronto FC	$124,256
2018	Liam Fraser	CAN	Toronto FC	$75,875
2019	Noble Okello	CAN	Toronto FC	$68,060
2019	Jacob Shaffelburg	CAN	Toronto FC	$62,750
2020	Rocco Romeo	CAN	Toronto FC	$n/a
2020	Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty	CAN	Toronto FC	$n/a
2020	Jayden Nelson	CAN	Toronto FC	$n/a
2011	Russell Teibert	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$190,000
2013	Maxime Crépeau^	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$94,083
2018	Simon Colyn	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$81,250
2018	Michael Baldisimo	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$83,013
2019	Theo Bair	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$76,250
2019	Thomas Hasal	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$66,250
2019	Georges Mukumbilwa	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$56,250
2020	Gianfranco Facchineri	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$n/a
2020	Patrick Metcalfe	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$n/a
2020	Damiano Pelice	CAN	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	$n/a

Records

The following table shows the leading home grown player goal scorer by season. It also shows which club the player was with in that season, as well as the player's age at the end of that season.

Year	Player (Club)	Goals	Age	Transfer notes
2010[9]	Andy Najar (D.C. United)	5	17	Transferred to Anderlecht (Belgium) in January 2013.
2011[9]	Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls)	6	19
2012[9]	Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls)	3	20	Transferred to Stoke City (England) in January 2014.
2013[9]	Diego Fagundez (New England Revolution)	13	18
2014[9]	Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)	14	23
2015	Diego Fagundez (New England Revolution)	6	20
2016	Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders)	12	22
2017	Anthony Jackson-Hamel (Montreal Impact)	9	24
2018	Gyasi Zardes^ (Columbus Crew)	19	27	Traded to Columbus Crew in January 2018
2019	Gyasi Zardes^ (Columbus Crew)	13	28

Notes

1.^ Note a player who signed a Homegrown Player Contract with another club, but have since signed elsewhere. Their contract remains classified as a Homegrown Player Contract with Major League Soccer.[10]

References

1. "MLS Draft 2013: Homegrown player initiative rises as draft declines". Sporting News.
2. "MLS 2012 Roster Rules". Archived from the original on 2012-02-20.
3. "MLS 2015 Roster Rules".
4. "MLS announces $37 million investment in Targeted Allocation Money, Homegrown Player funds for 2016-17".
5. "MLS 2012 Roster Rules". Archived from the original on 2012-02-20.
6. "MLS Homegrown Player Policy".
7. "Soccer in America: Plenty of growth, plenty more to go", Seattle Times, June 29, 2014.
8. https://mlsplayers.org/resources/salary-guide
9. "He's Arrived: Gyasi Zardes breaks Diego Fagundez's single season Homegrown Player goalscoring record", MLS Soccer, September 8, 2013.
10. https://www.mlssoccer.com/glossary/homegrown-player

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