The Philadelphia Union made their second Homegrown signing of the summer on Wednesday, when the club announced that it has inked 17-year-old center back Auston Trusty to a first-team contract.
A US Under-20 international, Trusty has played regularly with Philadelphia’s USL club Bethlehem Steel FC this year, starting and going the full 90 in 13 matches. He first joined the Union as a member of the first group of Union Juniors in 2011, and moved to the club’s academy at its inception in 2013.
He graduated from the Union’s YSC Academy high school in June, and is the first academy graduate to sign with the Philadelphia first-team. He’s the fifth Homegrown signing in Union history and joins 19-year-old midfielder Derrick Jones as Philadelphia’s second Homegrown signing this summer.
“Auston has a really bright future ahead of him and it was important for us to keep him here, utilizing our professional pathway to the first-team,” Union sporting director Earnie Stewart said in a statement released by the club. “He has really benefitted from playing at the USL level this season, further showing just how valuable this process can be. He’s now proven himself at our academy, at Bethlehem Steel FC and at various youth national teams throughout his young career. We believe he’s ready for the next step in his progression and couldn’t be happier to have him signed.”
Born in Media, Pennsylvania, Trusty has been called up to the US U-20s three times in 2016, starting all three games for the team as they won the NTC Invitational tournament in California in July. A member of the US squad at last year’s U-17 World Cup, Trusty was most recently with the U-20s at the COTIF tournament in Spain.
