Inter Miami signs Azcona, Fray to homegrown deals
Inter Miami CF is prioritizing youth development heading into its second season in Major League Soccer, and it backed that up with its latest signings.
The club added midfielder Edison Azcona and defender Ian Fray to the MLS roster Tuesday.
Azcona, 17, and Fray, 18, are the second and third Inter Miami academy products to sign homegrown deals with the MLS team after Felipe Valencia, 15, signed with Inter Miami in December.
“Ian and Edison are two players who were quickly brought to my attention during my short time here, and my impressions of them are very positive,” Chris Henderson, Inter Miami’s sporting director and chief soccer officer, said in a statement.
“It’s satisfying to be part of continuing their development and helping them reach a level where they can demonstrate readiness to compete and be valuable for the team on a consistent basis. It’s important to develop from within, not only for the player and the club, but for the community too because they will always be part of the Inter Miami family wherever their career takes them in the future.”
The signings reflect Inter Miami’s greater emphasis on developing the younger players within all levels of the organization after club owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas felt that was a disappointing aspect of the team in 2020.
“This is a team and organization that’s going to develop players,” Mas said last week when introducing Henderson and Inter Miami coach Phil Neville to the media.
“We’re blessed to live in South Florida and have a significant talent pool that will build up the ranks as young players who aspire for the first team. The player-development side of what happened in 2020 was not up to David’s satisfaction, especially with some of the young talent on the team. All of the decisions we’ve made are driven by developing players.”
Azcona played as a winger for Fort Lauderdale CF, Inter Miami’s USL League One affiliate, in 2020.
He started all 16 of the team’s matches, recording three goals, three assists and a 55.6% shooting accuracy rate. Azcona also won a team-high 22 tackles. He was named to the League One All-League second team and was a finalist for the League One Young Player of the Year award.
Azcona was called up to the Dominican Republic’s senior national soccer team earlier in the month for a pair of friendlies against Puerto Rico and Serbia in preparation for World Cup and Olympic qualifiers. He started and played 77 minutes in a scoreless draw against Serbia on Monday.
“Physically, it’s going to be more intense,” Azcona said about taking the step up to MLS. “Play is much faster, so I’m going to do my best to adjust to it.”
Fray, a Coconut Creek native, played center back for Fort Lauderdale CF. He made nine appearances with the team in 2020, recording one assist, and finished the season with the fourth-highest passing accuracy among defenders in League One (86.5%).
Fray spent some time training with Inter Miami last year, and now he’ll join the MLS team on a full-time basis.
“It’s kind of a dream come true,” Fray said. “My whole life, I always wanted to sign a professional contract. To sign with my hometown club is a dream come true.”
Inter Miami has 21 players signed to the MLS team ahead of the 2021 season:
Goalkeepers (2): Drake Callender, John McCarthy;
Defenders (6): Nico Figal, Ian Fray, Leandro González Pirez, Christian Makoun, Dylan Nealis, Patrick Seagrist; Midfielders (10): George Acosta, Edison Azcona, Brek Shea, Jay Chapman, Blaise Matuidi, Lewis Morgan, Matías Pellegrini, Rodolfo Pizarro, Victor Ulloa, Felipe Valencia;
Forwards (3): Julián Carranza, Gonzalo Higuaín, Robbie Robinson.
Inter Miami also selected forward/winger Josh Penn and center back Aime Mabika in last week’s MLS SuperDraft.
Preseason training camp is scheduled to start Feb. 22, with the 2021 season kicking off in early April.