Chicago Fire II Sign Four Academy Players

The Chicago Fire have signed four players to MLS Next Pro contracts straight out of their academy. DeAndre Beckford, Harrison Bernhardt, Christopher Morales, and Rafi Pineda are the quartet signed to second team deals, which tie them to the club for the next several seasons.

Players on Next Pro contracts can appear for the first team in limited runouts, subject to short-term call-up rules, and would also require a transfer fee to be paid should the players move elsewhere.

The oldest of the group is Pineda, who is the third brother in his family to sign a professional contract with the club. He follows in the footsteps of Victor Pineda, the club's first homegrown player, and Mauricio Pineda, who has more appearances than any homegrown player in the club's history. While the youngest Pineda does not project in the same way as Mauricio, he is still a solid player in his own right, and has been a regular contributor for Fire II this season.

Like his older brothers, Rafi is eligible for the United States and Mexico. He starred for El Tri at the FIFA U-17 World Cup last year, drawing interest from clubs south of the border, and if that interest still exists or is reignited, clubs would now have to pay a fee to the Fire.

Morales is a arguably the top prospect of the group, and has receieved much more national regonition than the others despite being younger. The Chicago native has a late 2010 birthday, meaning he is still only 15, but has regularly featured for U.S. youth national teams in his age group despite November and December birthdays usually being disadvantaged at that age.

Additionally, Morales was the Fire's representative at this year's MLS Next All-Star game, where he notched three assists. He plays primarily as an attacking midfielder.

Bernhardt is the other player who has featured regularly this season who has signed a deal. The central midfielder from Plainfield has 10 appearances this season, and has also filled in at center back. At 17 years old he is still a largely unknown quantity, but now the Fire have him locked down as a Next Pro prospect.

The final and youngest player is academy winger Beckford, who is also 15, and has an even later 2010 birthday than Morales. He is a goalscoring winger who caught the eye of many scouts when he excelled at a youth tournament for the Fire last year. He also trained with the first team once last week.

Under new NCAA rules, players who sign second team deals do not automatically lose their college eligibility status; Next Pro players earning below a certain threshold can still go on to play college soccer under specific conditions. A tangible example of this is Rodrigo Neri, who spent two seasons as an under-contract player at Atlanta II, is currently playing at Maryland, while Bryson Rodríguez, who earned money as a professional in Costa Rica, is now playing at Syracuse.