Johnny Exantus Expects to be Signed

Red Bull Youth Update

Johnny Exantus, or Johnny X as he is referred to by his peers and those scouring various soccer message boards, has quite the bio for a 17 year old soccer player.

Exantus scored a brace in the Fifa U-17 World Championships against Jamaica at the tender age of fourteen. The legend only grew from there.

His profile only grew in the 2006 Metrostars preseason when Johnny, a member of the Metro's youth academy under Gio Saverse, was invited to train with the first team. Johnny quickly turned the heads of the coaches and players. The word was out that New York had a one of a kind prospect in their camp, but league rules kept NY from signing him. If Johnny signed with MLS he would have been subject to the SuperDraft, putting him up for grabs in a pool of MLS talent sharks.

Everyone questioned why New York could not sign the young phenom, but the rules prohibited it. Don Garber realized this, and invented a rule for cases like Exantus, to be signed straight from the academy to the first team. Problem is the rule would not be in effect for New York until after the 2007 season, about two years since Johnny X first burst onto the MLS radar.

Since then, the team name changed, but Exantus stayed in the youth academy, continuing to impress, even with his now famous profile. In fact, many other players from the youth team have grown up with Exantus, who are now impressing in their own right. Walter Hines and Matt Kassel are others on Red Bull's radar.

The Exantus name jumps off the page the most though, due in part to that now famous preseason where he changed MLS for the better.

When this offseason comes, Red Bull will have their first opportunity to sign players from their top-notch youth system.

From a source close to the player, it has been learned that Johnny "expects to be signed by Red Bull, in November". Now that could just mean that the kid is confident, or that there are some signs. This could be the first of many signings that Red Bull makes from their youth system in the future. The youth academy is the most successful part of the club, and the ability to sign these young, talented, local players who are winning all of these youth tournaments will give Red Bull the advantage it truly deserves from their years of hard work. MLS is growing up.