Giuseppe Gentile, junior striker for the UNC Charlotte 49ers, and Christiano Francois, who redshirted at Maryland in 2013, have left college and signed Major League Soccer contracts, making them available for a Waiver Draft.
The Chicago Fire has reportedly acquired Gentile in the Waiver Draft. Francois was selected by DC United.
Gentile moved to North Carolina from Switzerland while in high school and scored 27 goals in three seasons with the 49ers. He played prep soccer at Ardrey Kell High School, and club soccer with the Charlotte Soccer Academy.
Gentile is considered a prototypical No. 9 forward and was a goal scorer at the collegiate level. He was the team’s assist leader as a sophomore in 2012.
Francois, who has played with the Haiti under-17 national team, is a product of St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey that produced Tab Ramos, Claudio Reyna and Gregg Berhalter, among others. He scored five goals in his freshman year at Maryland, but was academically ineligible in 2003.
Despite both being underclassmen, neither player had signed Generation adidas contracts.