When the San Jose Earthquakes signed Gilbert Fuentes to a multi-year Homegrown player contract in January, they were proud to announce that, at 15 years of age, the U.S. youth international was the youngest signing in club history. The promotion of Fuentes from the U-19 Academy team to the first team was made in part to signal to other youth players in the Quakes system that they had a path to the pros here in the Bay Area.
“Signing Gilbert to a Homegrown contract was a priority for us and I would like to thank the Fuentes family, agent Rob Moore, MLS, and our entire staff in the youth development area for their commitment to get this done,” said Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli in a club statement.