Castanheira signed from USL team
Inter Miami CF continue to make good on their promise of developing the club’s younger talent, signing goalkeeper Dylan Castanheira to an MLS contract from Fort Lauderdale CF — the club’s USL League One team.
Castanheira, 25, made 11 appearances with Fort Lauderdale CF in 2020, with his 44 saves ranking No. 5 in League One with 44 saves.
“Dylan is a promising young goalkeeper who can learn a lot from being in the first team environment, training with the other goalkeepers and generally preparing as much as possible for his opportunity to earn minutes with the team,” Chris Henderson, Inter Miami chief soccer officer and sporting director, said in a statement.
Castanheira, who spent four years at Columbia University, was selected by FC Dallas in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft and made 21 appearances for Atlanta United 2 in the USL Championship during the 2019 season.
Inter Miami traded a fourthround pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft to FC Dallas for Castanheira’s college-protected-list rights last year.
After starting goalkeeper Luis Robles’ season-ending injury in October, Castanheira worked with Inter Miami’s goalkeepers for the final two months of the season.
His deal with Inter Miami runs through the 2021 MLS season, with club options for 2022 and 2023.
“It’s always more comfortable when you have familiar faces around the place,” Castanheira said to Inter Miami’s website. “I’m not going into it completely blind and that will benefit me. Being able to go into this season having had the experience of working with the first team last season will only benefit me.”
Castanheira’s promotion to the MLS roster continues Inter Miami’s emphasis on development throughout the club this year — from the academy teams, to the USL squad to the MLS team.
Felipe Valencia, 15, became the first Inter Miami academy product to sign an MLS contract with the team last month. Fellow academy products Edison Azcona, 17, and Ian Fray, 18, signed MLS deals with Inter Miami earlier in the week.
Eleven of the 22 Inter Miami players who have contracts with the team for 2021 are 23-years-old or younger. This doesn’t include forward/winger Josh Penn, 20, or center back Aime Mabika, 22, both of whom Inter Miami selected in last week’s MLS SuperDraft.
“The development system is vitally important for the club,” Henderson recently said. “We want to have players who come into our club and are able to play at the highest level they can and using that pathway from the USL into the first team. If the player is good enough, they’re going to play.”
Castanheira’s signing also makes it less likely that Inter Miami will sign another goalkeeper to their MLS roster, with Drake Callender, 23, and John McCarthy, 28, already on the team for 2021.
Inter Miami had three goalkeepers
on their roster last season until Robles’ injury, with McCarthy starting Inter Miami’s last eight regular-season matches.
Although Inter Miami were reportedly tied to multiple goalkeepers, most notably Manchester United and Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero, it appears that the club believes McCarthy is ready to be the top goalkeeper on the depth chart for the 2021 season.
2021 roster
Goalkeepers (3): Drake Callender, Dylan Castanheira, 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.
Preseason training camp is scheduled to start on Feb. 22, with the 2021 season kicking off in early April.