This morning the Portland Timbers made their fourth homegrown player signing since since joining Major League Soccer, adding former Timbers Academy and Portland Timbers 2 player Marco Farfan to the first team.

A left back by trade, Farfan has been turning heads with his play for T2 this summer, showing that he had the skill to hang with the professionals as he made eighteen starts for the Timbers’ USL side in the 2016 season.

Farfan, 17, has garnered attention at the national level for his play, just recently returning from a call up to the United States U-19 Men’s National Team alongside fellow Timbers academy product Jacob Montes.

While Farfan seems like a probable loanee to T2 for next season, his progression through the team’s system is a promising one for the Timbers as the side look to produce the sort of talent that they can build around in the long term. What’s more, Farfan’s rapid improvement with T2 this season should give Timbers fans every reason to hope that the youngster can continue to improve and might someday soon be vying for a first team spot.

The Timbers’ press release: