The Earthquakes announced on Thursday the signing of midfielder Niko Tsakiris to a Homegrown Player contract through the 2025 season with a club option for 2026. Here are five things to know about the Quakes’ newest Homegrown:
1. He becomes the 10th product of the Quakes Academy to sign with the first team and the fifth youngest player in club history. San Jose now has eight Homegrown players on its first team roster heading into the 2022 season (Cowell, Fuentes, Marcinkowski, Ochoa, Richmond, Thompson, Tsakiris, Walls).
2. Tsakiris has been playing for the Quakes Academy since 2017, primarily up an age level. Prior to that, he competed for De Anza Force Soccer Club and the IMG Academy in Florida.
3. Despite his young age, Tsakiris has already represented the United States U15 Boys’ National Team camp alongside teammate and fellow Homegrown Emi Ochoa in March 2020.
4. The 16-year-old is currently ranked by TopDrawerSoccer as the No. 2 player in the Northern California and Hawaii region for the Class of 2024, as well as the No. 9 midfielder nationally.
5. Tsakiris is the son of former U.S. U16 Boys’ National Team head coach Shaun Tsakiris.
