There are a handful of New York Red Bulls Homegrown talents that may soon be a part of the organization.

One of those who could turn pro and receive an offer from the Red Bulls this offseason is Akron attacking midfielder Adam Najem.

On Monday, Goal USA reported that the Red Bulls were looking into signing a few of their college-based homegrown stars this winter, including Virginia freshman midfielder Derrick Etienne, Georgetown forwards Alex Muyl and Brandon Allen and Maryland midfielder Mael Corboz.

While Najem wasn’t included in the report, he did tell SBI that he and the Red Bulls have had discussions. Najem, who is currently finishing up his semester finals at Akron this week, added that he is currently weighing all of his options.

On the one hand, the New Jersey native could join a team he has had a connection to since he was a young teenager. Just this past summer, he spent time playing with the Red Bulls Under-23 team ahead of the 2015 college season. Being able to play in front of friends and family — and even alongside friends like centerback Matt Miazga — at the professional level would be wonderful, according to Najem.

“The Red Bulls have been great to me. I’ve been there since I was 10 or 11 years old,” Najem told SBI, “and just being around that type of environment, competing every single day with top players (for Red Bulls U-23s) was so important. I continued to improve over the summer, and I felt like I had a good season this year.”

Najem scored 10 goals and provided 11 assists in 2015, leading the Zips to their first College Cup appearance since 2010.

One of Najem’s most-notable skills, aside from being able to find space in behind defensive back line, is his expertise with free kicks. With Akron, he has scored a handful of times from free kicks, including during the 2015 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals against Creighton.

“I’m not a free kick specialist,” Najem said with a laugh. “Yeah, I work on it a few times, here and there, but I’ve just been lucky enough to have a few of them go in.”

Akron head coach Jared Embick knows that the allure of turning pro is a hard offer to turn down. While he said Najem’s decision will affect how good Akron is next season, the turnover is part of college game.

Embick said that another year with Akron could help Najem become more mature as a player, and on top of that, he would enter the professional ranks with a degree.

“I think if you get a pretty good offer, in terms of money and stability, I think you take it,” Embick told SBI. “If it’s something that’s good, but not great, then he may consider finishing up his education and try signing again next year.”

Embick, who was named head coach of Akron after Caleb Porter exited for a managerial role with the Portland Timbers, has followed Najem’s development from the very beginning. The Zips coach has been a part of the program for many years now and was in charge of recruiting when Najem was being scouted.

Over the course of three years, he’s watched a talented attacker become much, much more.

“I think he’s always been creative and technical,” Embick said. “I think we’ve helped him be more consistent for a 90-minute period and helped his all-around game. We’ve really helped him learn some things defensively. He can really change the game with his work-rate and his ability to defend as well with his ability on the ball.

“I think when we first got him, he was a guy that could find good attacking pockets, but sometimes he wasn’t always the best defender or dialed in defensively. The level he would need to be to make it, I think now you see a complete player that can play a couple of positions at the next level.”

Najem did say that should he return, he hopes to win the NCAA title. Should he decide to forgo a possible deal in MLS and choose another year of college, the Zips will be one of the heavy favorites next year.

“This year, it was a great ride with this team,” Najem said. “We’ve been through a lot throughout my three years here, and it honestly felt so great bringing Akron back to the College Cup, just because this university really deserves it. Some people had thought that Akron had fell off after Caleb Porter, but I’m glad we got to show people that Akron’s still here, Akron’s still around and that we’re still one of the best programs in the country.”