ORLANDO, Fla. (Dec. 9, 2019) - Orlando City SC has signed former Orlando City Academy product and top collegiate prospect David Loera ahead of the 2020 Major League Soccer (MLS) season, becoming the sixth Homegrown player in Club history.
“We are thrilled to sign David to a multi-year Homegrown contract,” said Orlando City EVP of Soccer Operations Luiz Muzzi. “It is imperative for us to continue to grow the talent here in Central Florida and to work toward creating a pathway from our Development Academy to the First Team and David is an example of just that. He possesses great vision and control on the ball and we are very excited about his addition to our roster.”
Loera returns to Orlando following three seasons at North Carolina State University, where he thrived as one of the best attacking midfielders in collegiate play. As a junior, Loera scored five goals for the Wolfpack while adding three assists and was named to the All-ACC Second Team, earning All-ACC honors for the third-consecutive year. Prior to this season, he was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and currently sits No. 13 on Top Drawer Soccer’s Men’s National Top-100 list, while sitting as the top player in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In his three seasons at NC State, Loera started in all 57 of his appearances for the Wolfpack, scoring nine goals, while adding 15 assists. As a freshman he was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI Second Team, College Soccer News All-Freshman Third Team and ACC All-Freshman Team, while earning First Team All-ACC, TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Third Team, and United Soccer Coaches All-South Region First Team honors following his sophomore campaign.
In 2016, Loera was called up to the United States U-19 Men’s National Team.
The 21-year-old becomes the sixth Homegrown player in Club history and its second such signing in as many years following the addition of Benji Michel last offseason. Tommy Redding, Tyler Turner, Harrison Heath and Mason Stajduhar round out the list of the Lions’ Homegrown signings throughout Club history.
TRANSACTION: Orlando City SC signs David Loera as a Homegrown Player.
David Loera
Position: Midfield
Height: 5-5
Born: September 10, 1998 in Zaragoza, Spain
Hometown: Orlando, Fla.
Citizenship: USA/Spain
