Chicago Fire signs another homegrown talent: Forward from Naperville

The Chicago Fire continued to add from its youth academy on Wednesday, signing Alex Monis, a 16-year-old forward from Naperville.

Monis becomes the ninth homegrown player on the current first-team roster and the 18th homegrown player in Fire history.

Monis has featured with the U.S. youth national teams, most recently with U-16 team that won the Nike International Friendlies title vs. Turkey.

"Alex is a talented player and while this is a big step, we believe he is ready to develop within the first team environment and continue to sharpen his soccer abilities," Fire coach Raphael Wicky said in a team news release.

He is the third homegrown player the Fire has signed this week, following Brian Gutierrez of Burbank and Javier Casas of Addison.