Senior Miguel Perez Signs with St. Louis CITY SC
Pattonville senior Miguel Perez has signed a contract with St. Louis CITY SC, St. Louis’ major league soccer team, to play for the next three years.
Splitting his time between the Youth Academy and CITY2, Perez was brought up to play in the major league.
At the age of 18, Perez has played soccer almost his whole life. Before beginning his journey through STL CITY, he played for St. Louis Scott Ghallager and JV Marines.
“Ever since I was young, it’s always been my dream to be a professional soccer player,” Perez said. “Between playing for Scott Ghallager and my other clubs, it’s been amazing.”
As a student, Perez attended first and second hour and then left campus to go to workouts and practices. He will be graduating, along with the rest of the Class of 2023, on Thursday, May 25.
On top of being new to the team, Perez is the youngest player.
“My teammates treat me like I’m part of the team and they have never treated me differently,” Perez said. “I have a really good team.”
One of the things that Perez is looking forward to in the future is being added into FIFA. In September, STL CITY SC will be added into the game. The expansion team joined the MLS in 2019, so because the team is newer, they won’t be fully integrated until the next edition.
Perez made his first game appearance on February 26 in the 59th minute during the Austin vs. STL game, winning the match with a score of 3-2. He has played in 10 games in the regular season, starting in five of them.
During the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, where they played against Chicago Fire FC on May 9, Perez scored his first-ever professional goal in his career. It was the club’s first homegrown goal, as well as CITY SC’s youngest goal scorer.
Perez scored his first ever goal in MLS on May 27 against Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Continuing to make history, he is now first Homegrown player in club history to score in MLS.
Perez was also named to the United States Under-19 Men’s Youth National Team. He missed St. Louis’ match against Real Salt Lake on March 25 while he was in Buenos Aires, Argentina at U-19’s training camp.
After his three year contract is up, Perez said he plans to continue playing. Once his time with STL CITY is over, he will be known as a free agent. This means other teams around the world can recruit him to play for their team.
“I am excited to see where this journey takes me,” Perez said.
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