D.C. United sign Kevin Paredes to homegrown contract

D.C. United made another homegrown signing on Friday morning, inking midfielder Kevin Paredes to a contract. First reported by Charles Boehm, the 16 year old becomes the 14th signing in club history, and the fifth in less than 12 months. Playing both sides of midfield with pace and vision, Paredes is the third homegrown player to have made his professional debut with D.C.’s USL club Loudoun United before signing a contract (following Griffin Yow and Moses Nyeman), with an assist in three games, after a USSDA career where he scored 39 goals in 85 appearances (61 starts).

Paredes will attend D.C.’s preseason and would presumably spend the bulk of his 2020 campaign at Loudoun next to DA teammates Nyeman and Ted Ku-DiPietro, who signed a professional contract with Loudoun last week. He becomes the 21st roster player for D.C., and his contract does not count towards the salary budget or senior roster numbers. D.C. currently has 15 players on the senior roster that comprise the salary budget.

Players begin to report to preseason camp for the Black-and-Red on Sunday.