Revolution make Somerville midfielder Firmino fifth Homegrown signing

The Revolution bolstered their first-team ranks Tuesday by signing Somerville, Mass. 17-year-old Nicholas Firmino to a Homegrown contract, the club announced.

Firmino, who was born in Mantena, Brazil, becomes the fifth Homegrown player in club history after spending the last four and a half seasons with the Revolution Academy program. And they were productive seasons: “Elio” scored 35 goals at attacking midfield, making more than 90 appearances from the U-14s on up.

During this recently concluded fall season with the Revs’ U-19s, Firmino scored four goals in six appearances. He scored 16 goals over the last calendar year-plus and earned a spot in the US Soccer Development Academy Best XI of the East earlier this year.

In addition, Firmino trained with the first team for a good portion of the 2018 season: he spent the preseason with the club when they trained in Tucson, and also traveled with the club in July on trips to Minneapolis on July 18 followed by the subsequent trip to Harrison, N.J. when the Revs played New York Red Bulls.

At 17, the 5-foot-11, 155-pound Firmino will be the youngest member of the squad, displacing Providence’s Isaac Angking of that particular honor.