Sporting Kansas City has signed 17-year-old defender Jaylin Lindsey as a Homegrown Player, the club announced Thursday.
Lindsey will be added to the roster when his MLS contract begins on Jan. 1, 2018. His contract will run through 2021 with an option for 2022.
Lindsey becomes the third-youngest signing in club history and the club's sixth Homegrown Player. He is the third Sporting KC Academy product to sign a Homegrown deal since the start of 2016, following 21-year-old forward Daniel Salloi and 15-year-old Gianluca Busio, who on Aug. 25 became the second-youngest player in MLS history.
Lindsey has featured for the Sporting KC U-16s and U-18s, made more than 25 appearances for the United States U-17 national team over the last two years and is expected to be part of the squad for this year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India, which starts on Oct. 6.
After impressing throughout his first full Academy season with Sporting KC, Lindsey signed an Academy contract with Sporting KC’s USL affiliate Swope Park Rangers on May 6, 2016. A day later, he became the first American player born in 2000 or later to appear in a professional match. Lindsey would feature once more for the Rangers before joining the US U-17 Residency Program in August 2016.
