Danny Leyva was the youngest player to ever sign for the Seattle Sounders, the youngest to ever play and if all was right in the world the youngest to score a goal. It’s no surprise he was the runaway winner for Sounder at Heart’s Young Player of the Year with a whopping 71 percent of the vote.
Leyva signed his first professional contract in 2018 with Tacoma Defiance after becoming the second-youngest player in USL history when he played against San Antonio FC earlier that year. In 2019 he took another step forward in his development as led the Sounders Academy to the Generation Adidas Cup Champions Division title with U-17 side; became a mainstay with Defiance; signed a first team contract; earned just over 400 MLS minutes, and even represented the U.