DC United sign homegrown defender Matai Akinmboni

TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing

D.C. United have signed defender Matai Akinmboni to a homegrown contract through the 2025 MLS season with options in 2026 and 2027, the club announced Wednesday.

Akinmboni, 15, is the Black-and-Red’s first homegrown signing under head coach Wayne Rooney.

“Matai has shown his quality as a player with the academy and Loudoun United this season,” D.C. general manager Lucy Rushton said in a release. “He’s mature beyond his years and has a great future ahead of him as a player. He’s physically gifted with impressive defensive intuition. He immediately caught the eye of Wayne and we’re excited to see him continue to develop with the first team.”

Akinmboni has made four appearances with Loudoun United FC, D.C.’s second team, in the USL Championship this season. He made his professional debut in March 2022.

The Maryland native is a US youth international, earning a U-17 call-up earlier this month. He joins academy-developed players like Jackson Hopkins, Ted Ku-DiPietro and more hoping to further establish first-team roles.

“Matai has been in our academy for a number of years and has shown a great amount of progress as a player in the last year,” Loudoun general manager Stewart Mairs said in a release. “Since signing an academy contract with Loudoun United, Matai has consistently impressed us with his maturity and ability as a defender. As a player who has been in the academy system since such a young age, this is a huge accomplishment for the club to sign him to a professional contract.”

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