If Klinsmann pulls this off, this would be a bigger get than Julian Green when you consider all of the factors involved - he isn't even a US citizen and he isn't close, plus he would lose his German citizenship if he became a US citizen and endanger his status with Arsenal. Honestly, when he became our national team coach, I had no idea that Klinsmann could yield this kind of power as a recruiter of duel nationals, but he has long standing relationships with Bayern as a club as well as Arsene Wenger. I am incredibly impressed that he has managed to stay in the game. If Jeff Carlisle's information is correct, Klinsmann is simply a top level, world class recruiter, regardless of who Zelalem eventually plays for. These guys are players that we normally don't have a shot at. Exibit A: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/03/julian-green-jerry-green-usmnt-germany/
At first I dismissed this idea that Klinsmann was much better than Bradley at recruiting guys. He hadn't really added anybody that we probably wouldn't have gotten anyway. I mean Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and Alfredo Morales were pretty low hanging fruit. But now he's grabbed Aron Johannsson from right out of the Iceland senior team. He's grabbed Julian Green, a player Germany actually wanted, and now he might even be pushing Zelalem to hold off and consider us.
I thought there was a 5% chance that Green would switch and less than 1% that Zelalem would eventually play for us. So the fact that Klinnsman got Green is huge, if he ends up getting Zelalem too then he needs a position somewhere in the system for life lol (ok maybe that is a little much but still)
I'm not gonna assume yet that Gedion would have to forfeit German citizenship in order to gain US citizenship. [Yes, I know its likely] There is a path for German citizens to become dual citizens. It's called Beibehaltungsgenehmigung (I didn't just make that up by stringing a bunch of random letters together. http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ug...gung---dual-citizenship-for-germans-in-the-us Supposedly its a big pain in the ass, so your common man doesn't do it. But perhaps the USSF and Klinsmann know some lawyer types that can get this done. There are German celebrities that have been able to do this. Heidi Klum being one. I know its unlikely, but I just want to stop us from making the "he must forfeit German citizenship" argument into absolute 100% gospel. Nevertheless, what BostonRed keeps telling us is true. His father's citizenship status may be driving this right now...........................
It's also possible that Zedion's age will factor into the equation. I've seen some mentions that the loss of German citizenship comes because one "voluntarily" takes a new citizenship. Since Zedion's citizenship would derive from his father and not his own actions, it's *possible* that this isn't cause for surrendering his citizenship. Either way, I'm sure Jurgen has connected them with the right lawyers who understand the German rules, if that's what they need. Zedion's fat new paychecks help make this easier to pull off.
I think we should have a poll on who thinks the contract extension for Klinsmann was a poor move now. I think if we go back to the original thread on that, a whole lot of people celebrating now would look really foolish, to be kind.
I've been following Gedion for about 3 years now and have had to suppress any excitement of his possible future with the USMNT, but this thread is making it incredibly hard. It was always a small chance that he could play for us but Klinsy's track record sure is becoming impressive. Can't wait to see how this turns out.
There are just a lot of moving parts here. And of course those parts change dramatically when he turns 18 in about 10 months. I suspect that if Gedion is really serious about playing for the USYNT/USMNT program, people in the USSF and Arsenal would find a way to get it done. As long as his citizenship timeline is reasonable. From what I can see, its in Gedion's best interests (if he's serious about playing for the USMNT) to retain his German citizenship until he's 18. Then he can apply for US citizenship, forfeit the German citizenship (if he has to), and then figure things out with Arsenal. The kid just signed a long-term deal with Arsenal, did he not? I don't think that contract becomes null and void if he forfeits German citizenship..........................
I don't know who had a problem with the extension for Klinsmann, but I do know it took up until the Sporting News article for Klinsmann's strengths to come through. They have always been there, but it was hard for them to stand out until he stopped gifting German Americans spots in the starting lineup regardless of how well they were playing and he stopped crow-baring formations onto the team regardless of whether or not they suited our personnel. Once he stopped doing those two things, he has been fantastic. I still think that it is going to be a rough summer, but as long as the team plays well and competes, I will be fine with it. Gulati typically draws decisions out way, way too long. I am glad that he finally wrapped things up ahead of time for once.
Yeah, and it's only Arsenal, so it's not like he's attached to a real top English club, unfortunately.
A little much? More like a little not enough! I wouldnt mind him being around forever if he gets Zelalem too, and inducted into the HOF. Which HOF? All of them...
I would add to this the issue of obtaining a work permit, which IMO is something he should be able to get.
Maybe not the PL is looking to crack down on the amount of work permits given. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ules-limit-foreign-influx-Premier-League.html
Well, that's something for the future..................... From what I can tell (as an amateur at this) a player really only needs to apply for a work permit when they sign a new contract. In other words there isn't some committee somewhere scouring over player roles determining that a player shouldn't have one any more. Once Tim Ream got one to sign his Bolton contract, he didn't need to reassert his work permit qualifications every few months. Gedion just signed a long-term deal with Arsenal. So maybe he doesn't need to worry about the work permit until that expires......................................?? [Caveat of course being that things are different before he's 18. He needs to be a German citizen until he's 18 from where I sit.]
I have no idea what national team Zelalem is leaning towards or should, whatever that means in this context, play for. I do, however, believe that options are a good thing and he should keep his open for as long as possible, especially given how competitive and cut-throat the German national team system is. So I don't see Zelalaem's withdrawing from the German U17 team as a sign of him choosing the US, just a sign of him keeping his options open for a little while longer. Also, I am in the camp that says getting US citizenship won't impact his ability to play for Arsenal. I won't pretend to be an expert on German citizenship law, but I can't see the British Home Office making a kid born in the EU leave the country because he also took US citizenship. I also can't see them denying a work permit to a player of Zelalem's ability. So I don't see this part of the discussion as being very germane to Zelalem's decision.
This is a good point. It's also understandable when less than a third of of the players in the Premier League are eligible for the England national team. And if England fail to advance from their World Cup group this summer -- a very real possibility, IMO -- then you can expect the FA to start becoming even more stingy with the work permits.
Unless they plan on pulling out fo the EU (which some there would actually love to do), I can't see it making much of a difference. Between the EU players and the non-EU players who qualify for a WP on merit, that's where the majority of non-English playing time is going. The fringe WP players aren't really taking that many jobs and if the English players can't beat out those fringe NT players, they are worse off than we all thought last year.
Bradley would have gotten Aron Johnson and I think he would have gotten Green, too. I mean even Greens father was recruiting him. The US is unique in the soccer world in that we are not a soccer power, yet we have an attraction or a bit of cache that no other country has in that we are the US. I know this is "ussnobbery" but it exists.
Well, that's the theory anyway and it's the argument that will be used by those opposed to tighter restrictions on work permits (people like Wenger). But the FA is seriously concerned about the situation. From the BBC piece I linked above: Only last month, Football Association chairman Greg Dyke addressed what he called a "frightening trend" of the reduction in the number of English players playing regularly in the Premier League. Against the backdrop of a growing foreign influence in the Premier League, Dyke warned England might not be able to compete seriously on the world stage without changes in the domestic game. So if England go crashing out in the first round this June then I'm expecting to see plenty of handwringing and reactionary measures taken to restrict WPs (to the extent that they're able to so).
It really is hard to say. Thomas Rongen and others started this ball rolling cycles ago with their "list" of dual-nationals that they were starting to recruit heavily. People criticized Rongen for tactics, results, Subotic (although I think that's overblown), etc.................but we have always credited him for leaving no stone unturned regarding foreign-based players. And we do have a full-time scouting/recruiting operation in Europe now (as well as Mexico). Klinsmann (and rightfully so) is given credit for these efforts. But he's just the tip of the spear. The effort to recruit dual-nationals whether Mexican-American, German-American, or otherwise has been a team effort at the USSF over the last couple of cycles. We've seen that in the recent U17, U18, U20, and U23 roster selections. [And I'm sure we'll see it with the pre-Olympic U21 group.] Would we have gotten Green into the US program without Klinsmann? I don't know. But let's not forget he was on our provisional 30-man roster for the 2013 U20 World Cup. That was Ramos. And he also attended a U18 camp in the past. Klinsmann's efforts may have pushed us "over the edge," but he was already standing there waiting to be pushed. And let's not forget that Zelalem too, has actually been at US youth camps in the past. He was invited to train with our U15 team. Seeing as he only just turned 17.....................that wasn't that long ago. So the recruitment of Zelalem isn't something that Klinsmann just started. I agree with you Scotty. I'd also argue, however, that English players are primarily being squeezed out by Spaniards, Germans, Frenchman, etc. And I don't see that changing. England has bigger problems. I don't know if people saw the story that Sport England has just cut the FA's budget due to a sharp decline in grassroots football. Fewer and fewer people are actually playing the game in the UK. I'd also add that we don't know where Zelalem will be in his career (let's say 2 years from now) when he might actually have to apply for a work permit. If at that time he's getting playing time at Arsenal (instead of the prospect and U21 he is now).....................maybe it won't be an issue at all. Or maybe he'll be on the fringes of the squad and want to move to another league where he won't have this permit problem. Say the Bundesliga.......................... One problem at a time Without actually being a citizen, all of these other issues are secondary. Some intrepid reporter needs to help us with that timeline, or we're all just speculating in circles.