The Portland Timbers have signed 17-year-old defender Marco Farfan as an MLS Homegrown Player for the 2017 season. Farfan is the first player from the Timbers Academy program to sign a Homegrown Player contract with the MLS club.
A native of Portland, Farfan joined the Timbers U.S. Soccer Development Academy in 2013. He played for the U-16 and U-18 Timbers Academy teams over three seasons. This season with T2, Farfan started in each of his 18 appearances, playing the eighth-most minutes on the team (1,463).
“This bodes well for the future of our young players and reinforces that our development pathway is on the right track,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. “Ultimately, it will be up to Marco but he has the potential to eventually see a role in the first team and we look forward to giving him every opportunity to succeed.”
The Timbers play their final regular-season home match at 2 p.m. on Sunday against Colorado.
