St. Louis CITY SC added to their goalkeeping depth on Tuesday, announcing the signing of Christian Olivares from their MLS NEXT Pro team.

The 21-year-old joins the club from St Louis CITY2 on a contract that runs through the 2025 MLS season, with club options for 2026-27.

“We saw great qualities in Christian from this past season in MLS NEXT Pro,” said sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel in a statement. “As a young prospect, we hope to see him grow professionally with us and build off of last season’s performance.”

Olivares had three clean sheets and 43 saves in 12 regular-season MLS NEXT Pro matches this season. He’ll now compete for a backup spot behind St. Louis captain and 2023 Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Roman Bürki. Ben Lundt adds dimension as well.

CITY SC will look to build on its No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs last year, which was the highlight of a record-breaking expansion season. In February, they will make their Concacaf Champions Cup debut.