Every MLS teams’ best player aged 20 or under

MLS clubs are relying on young talent more than they ever have before. We take a look at every team’s best player 20 and under.

The rapid growth of MLS has seen clubs emphasize role players depth, and non-superstars more than ever, using the highly successful recent addition Targeted Allocation Money to sign quality starters all over the field. Rather than winning on the back of a David Beckham, teams win on the back of a Victor Vazquez, or a Roman Torres.

As part of this trend, we’ve also seen MLS teams prioritize development of youth talent in the past five to 10 years. With quality domestic talent dotting rosters, clubs are able to find cheaper production in multiple places, and the teams that have done this are the ones that have seen the returns. FC Dallas and Toronto FC are the best examples.

USL reserve teams allow MLS sides to spend time developing young domestic players, and the ability to sign players as Homegrowns adds incentive to produce local talent. This, more than anything else, has triggered the accelerated growth of the league and U.S. soccer in general.

With this in mind, we examine every MLS team’s best player 20 years old or younger. Many of these players are playing for the first team, but more than a few are contracted with a USL second team. Any player aged 20 or younger on June 14, 2017 qualifies. Two teams (Minnesota and New England) don’t have a U-20 player on their listed roster, and since neither has a reserve team, they’re not included on this list.

Atlanta United: Andrew Carleton

One of the youngest players on this list, the 17-year-old Carleton became Atlanta’s first Homegrown player last June, having grown up through the Georgia United academy and the recently-defunct U.S. U-17 residency program. He has 28 caps and 16 goals for the U-17 national team, and will play for them in October’s U-17 World Cup in India.

Carleton is a creative and technical winger who became the youngest American-born player to appear in the USL when he played a full 90 on loan with the Charleston Battery in September of 2016. He made a four-minute cameo off the bench in Atlanta’s blowout of Houston in May for his MLS debut.

Behind the wonder-kid Carleton, it’s a crowded group in Atlanta. 20-year-old center-back Anton Walkes is on loan from Tottenham, 18-year-old striker Brandon Vazquez has received MLS minutes, another 20-year-old center-back, Miles Robinson, was drafted second overall in January, and 19-year-old Jeffrey Otoo is on loan in Charleston.

Also keep an eye on 17-year-old midfielder Chris Goslin, a Georgia United prospect who’s listed on their active roster along with the five players listed above. Atlanta have an embarrassment of riches, and this is without mentioning the multiple players in their early 20s who just missed this list.

Manager Tata Martino invested a lot in signing players like Miguel Almiron, Hector Villalba and Josef Martinez, immediate contributors out of South America all aged between 22 and 24. The next generation, led by Carleton, is already taking shape.