York United Adds Vaughan Azzurri Youngster Joshua Lopez On Dev Deal

Shortly on the heels of Lukas Pareja‘s arrival, York United has confirmed the arrival of another teenager on a development contract – with two more set to come.

Canadian midfielder Joshua Lopez, 16, will fight for an opportunity to earn professional minutes after impressing the Nine Stripes in a first team training environment. With just six regular season matches on deck, it’ll be interesting to see if he can lay claim to any minutes as the race to playoffs hits a fever pitch league-wide.

Lopez isn’t the only talent expected to arrive on a developmental deal from Vaughan Azzuri, with Anthony Umanzor also expected to be announced in the near future. Both youngsters will have been onboarded ahead of the league’s roster freeze deadline last Friday.

It also appears that BTB Academy’s Finn Raible will also join the setup at York Lions Stadium, bringing the club’s total of dev deal youngsters to four after the earlier arrival of Lukas Pareja, who rode the bench against Valour last week.

Lopez, a Toronto native, is described as someone who can operate in a midfield role both centrally and out on the flanks, too.

“So many young players in our immediate surroundings are blessed to have such incredible coaches and mentors. It means that a 16-year-old like Josh can walk into one of our training sessions and not look out of place. That foundation is crucial,” says YUFC President Ricado Pasquel, who brought in Silviu Butnaru to help identify local talent earlier this season.

The developmental deal will allow Lopez to make up to four appearances for the CPL side while retaining his amateur status. York United have the option to sign him to a second developmental deal should he complete his initial allotment of appearances.

“A strong connection to our communities is important for us and we’re grateful to all of our local clubs for their support and guidance since we’ve arrived here. We’re looking forward to seeing Josh develop and blossom under the tutelage of our technical staff.”

A member of that technical staff, Mauro Eustaquio, was recently invited to assist Canadian national team head coach Jesse Marsch though Canada Soccer’s community coach representative initative.

York United has already hit the league required allotment of domestic U-21 minutes per season, nearly three quarters of which could be supplied by Noah Abatneh. The rest were split between four domestic U-21 athletes, though so far no minutes have gone to anyone on a developmental deal.

York United will be back in action with a tough home match against Cavalry this Friday.

Photo Credit: York United FC