New York City FC Monday announced that MLS SuperDraft first-round selection and goalkeeper Luis Barraza signed his first professional contract with the club.
Taken 12th overall, Barraza became NYCFC’s sixth offseason acquisition, following the arrivals of Tony Rocha, Keaton Parks, Ebenezer Ofori, Justin Haak and Juan Pablo Torres.
“It’s one of the happiest moments of my life without a doubt,” Barraza said. “I’m thankful for everyone that’s helped me get to where I am today. Most importantly my family who has supported and believed in me since day one.
“It’s a dream come true. I’m honored and proud to and proud to wear the NYCFC badge.”
NYCFC traded $75,000 of General Allocation Money and the 19th overall pick to LA Galaxy for the 12th choice to secure Barraza’s rights.
“Luis is a very good goalkeeper with a bright future,” NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna said. “He’s someone who we really like and adds more depth to the goalkeeper position. We think it’s really valuable in MLS to have a very solid corps of goalkeepers pushing each other.
“We’re just happy to give Luis an opportunity to realize his dream and to now be an important part of his life as a Club. We want to look after him, push him and develop him to make his career take the right steps forward.”
the 6-2, 195-lb. Barraza recently graduated from Marquette University, where he claimed the Big East goalkeeper of the year award in 2018.
He joined a goalkeeper group that includes Sean Johnson, Brad Stuver and Jeff Caldwell.
“The reason we have four goalkeepers is because all of them have different qualities,” NYCFC head coach Doménec Torrent said. “We like to play with a build-up and Luis has a quality that is very important to us because he’s comfortable when he has the ball on the ground.”
Earlier in his youth career, Barraza was part of the academy setup at Real Salt Lake-Arizona where he won the Under-15/U-16 USSDA Championships in 2013, also finishing as a runner-up in 2015.
