Robert Turdean has been called up to the Chicago Fire first team for the first time and will be eligible to face Necaxa in Thursday's Leagues Cup opener. The 16-year-old attacking midfielder has trained with the first team in recent weeks.
Turdean, who has thus far only featured for the academy and second team, is often considered the top U.S. prospect in the 2010 age group. He signed the second-biggest homegrown contract in MLS history (behind Cavan Sullivan) when he joined the first Fire team last January.
This call-up for Leagues Cup is in line with Turdean's status as an "off-roster homegrown player", a tag that has been placed upon him for each of the last two seasons. The number caps his number of MLS involvements at six, but there is no restriction on how many times he can appear in other competitions such as the U.S. Open Cup and Leagues Cup.
If Turdean features against Necaxa tomorrow, he would become the youngest player in Chicago Fire history, beating Craig Capano's record by 97 days. Capano was a highly-rated SuperDraft product who joined the Fire in 2002 and debuted at 16. Current Fire teammate Christopher Cupps is the next-youngest player, having debuted at 16 against Nashville last season. The only other players to debut for the first team before turning 18 were Sergio Oregel (16), Brian Gutiérrez (17), Gaga Slonina (17), DaMarcus Beasley (17), and Javi Casas (17).
Turdean has only featured for Fire II this season, having become the second team's youngest-ever player when he debuted last August (breaking Chase Nagle's record). He has logged 1,342 minutes, scoring eight goals and adding four assists. Those minutes have included plenty of time as a winger. The Romanian-American teenager featured alongside a lineup of almost exclusively first team players as Fire II destroyed FC Cincinnati 2 last Sunday.
