Revolution II announce four signings ahead of MLS NEXT Pro debut

Just days after MLS NEXT Pro announced the roster guidelines for their inaugural season, Revolution II announced four additions to their 2022 squad.

After weeks of speculation, Marcos Dias, José Ítalo, and Ryan Lima have joined Revs II, while Michael DeShields returns to the club.

20-year-old forward Marcos Dias joins Revolution II on a one-year loan from Brazilian-side Vasco de Gama. Throughout his 87 appearances with Vasco, Dias clocked in over 3,700 minutes and netted 21 goals across all competitions.

20-year-old defender José Ítalo joins Revs II after being a crucial aspect of Flamengo’s U-20 squad. Throughout his 24 appearances with Flamengo U-20, Ítalo clocked in over 1,300 minutes. Ítalo was a part of Flamengo’s U-17 team that won the Under-17 Copa do Brasil in 2018.

20-year-old midfielder Ryan Lima joins the club after notching four goals and over 1,200 minutes with Botafogo’s U-20 squad. Lima played in the 2021 Campeonato Brasileiro playoffs as Botafogo reached the quarter-finals. Ryan Lima is the third Botafogo youth product to sign with Revolution II since the club’s formation in 2020.

23-year-old defender Michael DeShields returns to Revolution II after signing his first professional contract with the club on November 30th, 2020. DeShields never appeared with Revs II before joining D.C. United for their 2021 campaign. A product of Wake Forest, DeShields clocked in over 4,000 minutes over 60 appearances with the Demon Deacons.

Along with the four new signings, 10 players from the 2021 campaign will return for 2022. Esmir Bajraktarevic, Pierre Cayet, Michel Costa da Silva, Hikaru Fujiwara, Yannik Oettl, Sean O’Hearn, Connor Presley, Marzuq Puckerin, Colby Quiñones, and Meny Silva will all return.

Revs II will also see various members of the Revolution Academy join as the young prospects look to gain valuable development experiences at a professional level.

The club also announced that François Dulysse, Tyler Freitas, Tiago Mendonça, Dennis Ramirez, Joe Rice, and Ryan Sierakowski are not returning to Revolution II.

One thing to keep an eye on is the status of left back Ryan Spaulding. Spaulding was one of the four Revs II players to join the first team in preseason. With the mutual departure of left back Christian Mafla just days ago, it’s looking more and more likely Spaulding will make the jump from Revs II to the first team.