The Fire earned a major victory by signing 15-year-old Robert Turdean of Niles to a Homegrown contract. Turdean has a Romanian passport and drew interest from clubs in top European leagues because of his already impressive spatial awareness and talent on the ball.
Turdean has earned three call-ups to the U.S. men’s youth national team and led the U-15 Fire Academy Team to a national championship in 2024. He trusted the Fire to develop him and decided to stay home, signing Jan. 8.
The contract runs through the 2028 season with team options that could extend it through 2030. The deal is the second-largest for a Homegrown player in MLS history, behind midfielder Cavan Sullivan’s deal with the Philadelphia Union last year.
The only player younger to sign a Homegrown contract with the Fire was goalie Gabriel Slonina.
“I’m just looking forward to growing as a player and a person with the Fire and making my MLS debut,” Turdean told the Sun-Times. “My end goal is to play at the highest level, and I know to get there you need hard work, and I need to strive to be my best self every day.”
By signing Turdean — who’s likely to see time this season with the Fire II developmental team — the franchise took a big role in him becoming the best version of himself. And that’s not limited to what Turdean does on the field.
Gary Lewis, the Fire academy’s technical director, stressed the importance of the support system around Turdean that will work in concert with his family. Lewis emphasized the value of positive relationships and a productive learning environment. The Fire have education and mental-performance specialists, plus a coaching staff ready to aid Turdean and other young players.
“It’s a huge undertaking to take these boys, and we spend a lot of time with them,” Lewis told the Sun-Times. “But you can put presentations together, you can say these things, but you have to show it. The family have trusted us because they’ve seen the work that goes on with the training and with the games, with the support around him. You can’t fake this thing.”
Fire coach and director of football Gregg Berhalter said the pitch to Turdean and his family involved a detailed plan that would allow Turdean to get the most from his gifts. That includes bolstering the club’s sporting staff with experienced talent developers and helping Turdean deal with the physical challenges he’ll face. Berhalter said the Fire are creating checkpoints to know when Turdean is ready for the next stage.
“With athletes like this, there’s a developmental plan, and we’re going to follow that,” Berhalter told the Sun-Times.
Berhalter has a lengthy list of contacts, thanks to his long soccer career. When he coached the U.S. men’s national team, Berhalter arranged for Christian Pulisic to speak with Liverpool star Mo Salah about adjusting to the Premier League.
“This will be something similar,” Berhalter said, “where we connect him and help other people share experiences, for him to just understand that it’s completely normal what he’s going through.”
But Turdean’s skills do not seem normal.
Lewis praised how much Turdean loves soccer and the way he “bounces” into practice. Though he weighs only 135 pounds, Turdean has the ability to adapt. He has played at older age levels and thrived, and the Fire have found that the more advanced the competition, the quicker he thinks.
“He has this unique ability to understand the space that he’s in and the solution,” Lewis said. “His awareness is high. He’s checking all the time. You can see him checking his shoulder all the time and taking pictures. And then the decision he makes to move the ball into space to give him an opportunity to pass … these things you just can’t coach.”