TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing
Nashville SC made history Tuesday, announcing forward Adem Sipić as their first-ever homegrown player signing.
Sipić will formally join Nashville’s first team during the 2024 MLS season, with his deal lasting through 2027 (with a club option for 2028). The 17-year-old Kentucky native will continue to compete with Huntsville City FC, the club’s new MLS NEXT Pro team, during the 2023 season.
"Signing Adem as our first homegrown player is special for not only Adem and his family and for our club's fans, but really is a peek behind the curtain of what we hope will start to be a conveyor belt of players being grown and developed through our first team, be it through our youth academy, which Adem has absolutely smashed over the past year or through Huntsville City FC, where he scored his first professional goal just a couple of days ago," Nashville SC general manager Mike Jacobs said in a release.
"We now have a full pro player pathway that for the first time enables us to be like any other club in the world. It's an exciting time for the present and the future of Nashville Soccer Club. Adem is truly a deserving candidate to be our club's first homegrown."
Sipić initially joined Nashville’s academy in 2020 as a U-15 player. His impact soared during the 2022-23 season, as he scored 16 goals in 14 matches for the club’s U-17 team and helped them place at the 2023 GA Cup in Florida.
Aside from thriving for Nashville’s youth set-up, Sipić was called up several times to train with their first team during the club’s 2023 preseason and season, as he also moved up to compete with Huntsville City FC in MLS NEXT Pro. This past Sunday, the striker scored his first professional goal during the run of play during a 4-2 victory over St. Louis CITY2.
Nashville are now in their fourth MLS season after launching as an expansion club in 2020. Before Sipić's deal, rostered players with a homegrown designation were acquired from other clubs.
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