'95 Kainoa Bailey from Las Vegas, NV formerly of DC United and RSL-AZ has signed a professional contract with Bayer Leverkusen.
Where was this announced? Also, what's the backstory on how a kid from 'Vegas ended up playing for DC United?
Kainoa Bailey @KainoaAlegria So happy to play again and blessed to be signing my first Professional Contract with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany
Bailey is playing with the reserves. Thats pretty good considering he is age-eligible for the U-19's.
He's pretty silky on the ball and looks to be quite quick, also he has the body mechanics of a professional (hard to explain this precisely unless you've seen it before at the youth level): edit: I wonder if RSL tried to sign him as a homegrown and he declined? Seems like this is the type of dude they would have tried to snap up especially if they caught wind he was getting interest overseas.
Looks like he's a central midfielder, box to box type according to the video above. Looks pretty good, not overtly outstanding, but BL saw something, so good for him and hopefully in a few years, good for the USMNT.
@nooneinparticularwhomakesvideos: throwing in an arrow is really easy folks! sorry. is he the left back in the early part of the footage? [I am at work and the pics embedded in first post don't load]
In the early part of the footage he is the guy who comes back in his opponent's attacking half and makes a tackle on the RB/RM. From there you just have to follow the figure who looks/moves like him.
I think the MLS is still too new to the whole homegrown player thing, and just don't have the resources to hang onto everyone. I wouldn't be surprised if this is just one of those situations where an MLS scout just didn't rate him as someone they needed and because of limited resources just wished him good luck.
So he's the next Donovan then? I'm no expert when it comes to youth soccer, but he looks like a decent player. An American midfielder who can actually squeeze a pass into the box. Imagine that.
Peter Bonetti has seen a lot of Kainoa at DC United and here's a brief description from him. Sounds like this is a great and much needed move for Kainoa.
The team he is playing against is the San Diego Surf which is part of the USSF Development Academy system (elite clubs including youth MLS clubs, Dallas Texans, CASL, Chicago Sockers, Real So Cal etc. participate in this). Their teams were constantly represented in regionals and sometimes as the region IV rep at nationals when I was playing club back in the day (back then the highest level was the "Snickers Cup") and I imagine their quality is no different now. The premier club in San Diego and one of the premier clubs in So. Cal. The team Bailey was playing for in that video is the RSL-AZ academy which is based in Casa Grande, AZ but is ran by RSL. I believe its the only residential MLS academy in the country, meaning they live there, play there and go to school there. The landscape in the youth system around this country has changed vastly since I was playing back in the late 90s/early 2000s. I went to the SUM cup down here last year and the quality of play has increased significantly imo.
If he's with the reserves already a possible first team appearance could happen next season...just sayin'.
I very seriously doubt it, just saying. He's not even 18 yet and only two players under the age of 19 played a game for Leverkusen this year, both German youth nationals. In fact only one teenager played a game for Leverkusen's senior team that wasn't a German youth national: Arkazdiusz Milik, a 19 yr old that already has 6 senior caps for the Polish national team... So if he's good enough to play a game for the senior team at 17/18 (younger age than those kids) then he's the best prospect the US has ever had. Considering Bailey isn't even a US youth national at the moment that's pretty improbable. The kid is doing well enough to even be on the reserve team at this point. Heck, even if spent the next three years entirely with Leverkusen's reserves it wouldn't necessarily mean that he isn't progressing at an acceptable rate. Patience...
To say he isn't something because he is not a US youth international means nothing, because of how messed up our youth system is. Especially when it comes to the selection and identification process. Kids are overlooked or not even looked at all the time. I pretend to know nothing of this kid by the way, just pointing out that using USYNT experience as a caveat is not a good place to start.