ST. LOUIS — St. Louis CITY SC made another pickup from its secondary team CITY2 Thursday. Representatives from CITY SC exercised a 2023 MLS contract option for Célio Pompeu (Sae-lee-oh Pom-pae-o).
Pompeu also has team options for 2024 and 2025.
“Célio has made incredible strides as a player since arriving in St. Louis,” said Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel. “His passion and quality on the field are attributes that we want to continue adding to this club. He has adapted well to our principles. We are excited to see how he continues to develop over the next year.”
The 22-year-old Brazilian made 24 appearances with 20 starts for CITY2 in the MLS NEXT Pro season, scoring five goals and five assists.
The Fortaleza, Brazil native also had the most successful dribbles (49) and the second most key passes (46) in the entire league.
Pompeu instrumental in MLS NEXT Pro season
In his first MLS NEXT Pro debut, Pompeu recorded a goal and an assist in a 4-3 victory over Tacoma Defiance on April 10 at Hermann Stadium.
The Virginia Commonwealth University product played a pivotal role in the team’s postseason run. That run saw the club claim the MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference Championship. Pompeu tallied three goal contributions (two goals, one assist) in three playoff games.
Pompeu joins Akil Watts as part of the midfielder squad, which now stands at nine players.
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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.
