[MLS] Bryan de la Fuente, an 18-year-old midfielder, became the latest player from Chivas USA's youth system to move to the senior team when the MLS club announced that he was signed as a homegrown player.

De la Fuente, who recently played on the U.S. under-20 national team that won the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland, has played in the Chivas USA system for the past three years after returning from Mexico.

De la Fuente (Bell) becomes the fourth former Chivas USA youth player on the club’s first-team roster, joining local products Carlos Borja (Anaheim), Jorge Flores (Anaheim), and Cesar Zamora (Sylmar). Another former member of the Chivas USA youth system, Gerson Mayen (Los Angeles), is currently on loan at Miami FC.
 
“I’m thrilled because this is a goal that I’ve had for a long time,” said de la Fuente. “I had hoped this would happen from my first day in the [Chivas USA] academy, and now that dream has come true.”
 
De la Fuente was born in Laredo, Texas, but moved as an infant to Zapopan, near Chivas de Guadalajara’s Verde Valle training facilities. He played in the Guadalajara youth system for three years before moving to Bell, Calif., where he joined the Chivas USA under-16 team.

He is the 16th player signed by an MLS club as a homegrown player since the league allowed clubs to sign players from their youth systems without going through the draft.