DETROIT – Detroit City FC announced on Tuesday the club had signed defender Aedan Stanley to a two-year contract through the 2027 USL Championship season with a club option for the 2028 season. The transaction is pending league and federation approval.

Stanley joins Detroit City after spending the past two seasons with fellow USL Championship club Indy Eleven. Over two seasons, Stanley recorded 41 appearances in the USL Championship, including leading the side with seven assists in the 2024 regular season while also helping the Boys in Blue reach the Semifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Stanley’s 2025 campaign was cut short as he suffered an ACL injury in May.

Before joining Indy, Stanley played two seasons for Miami FC. During the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he appeared in 69 matches and provided seven assists for the Florida club. Before Miami, Stanley spent the 2021 season with MLS team Austin FC, after being selected 21st overall in the MLS SuperDraft. He made his MLS debut on May 15 against the LA Galaxy, coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute.

Stanley had previously entered the professional ranks in the USL Championship with Portland Timbers 2 in 2020, where he started all 16 matches in the Covid-shortened season, playing all 1,440 minutes, and recorded two assists.

Before joining T2, Stanley spent two seasons at Duke University, where he made 37 appearances for the Blue Devils. During his freshman season with Duke, Stanley started all 20 games at center back, led all field players with 1,921 minutes played, and went the distance in 19 of the 20 games. Stanley was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team, and was rated the No. 10 freshman in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.com. His sophomore season would see him start 17 games, in which he would record his first point as a Blue Devil with the game-winning assist in the win over Furman.

The Columbia, Illinois native started his soccer journey in the Saint Louis FC Academy, making his USL League Two debut on June 16th, 2016, for Saint Louis FC U23. He later made his debut in the USL Championship as a USL Academy signing on September 24, 2016, in a 2–2 match against OKC Energy FC. Over three seasons, he accumulated 20 appearances for Saint Louis FC before enrolling at Duke.

Stanley also represented the U.S. Youth National Teams, first in June 2015 when he was called up to the United States under-16 team for the Open Nordic Cup. He then joined the United States under-18s for the Vaclav Jezek Tournament, making his debut against Slovakia on August 16, starting in the 3–1 win.