Chicago Fire sign Javier Casas to Homegrown Player contract

It’s another day, another Homegrown Player signing for Chicago Fire FC.

The club announced the signing of 16-year-old Academy midfielder Javier Casas to a homegrown deal. He’s the 17th homegrown signing in club history, and there are now eight homegrowns on the current roster: Casas, Djordje Mihailović, Jeremiah Gutjahr, Nicholas Slonina, Gabriel Slonina, Andre Reynolds II, Mauricio Pineda, and Brian Gutiérrez, who signed a deal yesterday.

Casas is under contract through the 2023 season, with a club option for 2024.

“Javier has shown tremendous upside as he has been training within the first-team throughout the 2020 season,” Head Coach Raphael Wicky said in a statement. “His soccer IQ is beyond his years and our staff is looking forward to working with him to continue his development in a professional setting.”

Chicago Fire FC

Casas has played the last six seasons for Fire Juniors and the Fire Academy. He took part in the Fire’s first team training camp before the 2019 season, and Wicky had Casas in Tampa and Los Angeles for training camp last month.

He’s also a regular with the U.S. Youth National Teams. He was on the U-16 team that won the championship at the 2019 Nike Friendlies.