D.C. United sign academy product Matai Akinmboni

D.C. United have signed academy product Matai Akinmboni to a Homegrown contract through 2025 with club options in 2026 and 2027. 

Akinmboni now joins Ted Ku-DiPietro, Jacob Greene, Jeremy Garay, Bill Hamid, Donovan Pines, and Jackson Hopkins on the list of Homegrown Players on the current roster.

“Matai has shown his quality as a player with the Academy and Loudoun United this season,” Lucy Rushton, D.C. United General Manager, said.

“He’s mature beyond his years and has a great future ahead of him as a player. He’s physically gifted with impressive defensive intuition. He immediately caught the eye of Wayne [Rooney] and we’re excited to see him continue to develop with the first team.”

Akinmboni joined the Academy before signing a professional contract with Loudoun United FC in the United Soccer League (USL) Championship this season. He made his debut on March 26, and has since racked up four appearances for the Red-and-White.

“Matai has been in our Academy for a number of years and has shown a great amount of progress as a player in the last year,” Stewart Mairs, Loudoun United General Manager, said. 

“Since signing an academy contract with Loudoun United, Matai has consistently impressed us with his maturity and ability as a defender. As a player who has been in the Academy system since such a young age, this is a huge accomplishment for the club to sign him to a professional contract.”

He joins D.C. United as the latest young prospect, forming part of head coach Wayne Rooney’s plan to overhaul the roster. The team sits last on the Eastern Conference table after a turbulent 2022 campaign that saw head coach Hernan Losada fired only eight weeks into the season, several injuries affect the roster and the addition of Wayne Rooney.