Through one month of the Major League Soccer season, only seven teenagers have played at least one minute in a team’s midfield. Three of those players have started a game. Only two have logged over 100 minutes.
That puts Portland Timbers’ midfielder Cristhian Paredes in select company, along one player who is already winning U.S. men’s national team acclaim (New York’s Tyler Adams) and another who has stood out for the U.S. under-17s (D.C. United’s Chris Durkin). Among all teenage central midfielders who’ve seen time in MLS this season, Paredes leads in starts (three) and minutes played (270), thus far.