That's the problem with statistics. Dortmund takes its U23 team seriously since, at best, 2010. So, what really matters is the players coming through in the next years. Dortmund produced Erik Durm, a German NT player, via the reserve team. They produced Jonas Hofmann, a young player with regular playing time for Klopp's team, via the reserve team. They were able to secure Marvin Ducksch a loan deal to a Bundesliga 1 club through his great performances in the reserve team. And I expect Mitsuru Maruoka and Tammo Harder will be the next players in the pro team coming right out of the reserve team. Every German club has its own philosophy when it comes to the reserve teams. Leverkusen and Frankfurt even have closed their U23 department. Dortmund values the U23 highly, but only since Klopp's youth policy changes in 2010. But as usual in this sport, only very few talents really reach the top for various reasons.
I took U-23 because it's pretty hard to find the info for the academy/U-17/U-19 types and because U-23's are already winnowed down from the earlier age groups that we're discussing in this thread. Personally, I think Bundesliga clubs should at least a dozen of US U-17 members to Germany on these "shuttle" deals every year or, at least, those not already signed with the Mexican clubs, who mine the very fertile US territory freely. But then I said this years ago and the only major move has indeed been on the part of the Mexican clubs, who get the descendants of the Mexican immigrants and count them as "local" players according to the national/league rules .
Long article from his home town: http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/08/borussia_dortmund_christian_pulisic_transfer.html With a long-term contract in play (five years) and a European passport in his already-ragged travel bag once the paperwork is finalized — his grandfather, Mate Pulisic, is a Croatian native who eventually emigrated to the United States so Christian is attempting to obtain a Croatian passport — the youthful Pulisic will begin crafting yet another crisp diagonal run or sliding a through ball behind a defense or corkscrewing an unsuspecting defender into the ground. And while his father will be alongside as Pulisic begins the daunting climb through the professional ranks — Mark Pulisic has relocated to Dortmund, where he'll live and work — his mother, Kelley, and older siblings will be here in the States.
Pulisic is currently heavily wooed by the Croatian Federation. They'd like to call him up for the U17 Euro Qualifying next spring and have offered help in speeding up the process to get Croatian citizenship.
He would need it to be in Germany, though other entries in this thread mention he already has his Croatian passport.
Germany doesn't require EU passports once he turns 18, or if his parents are living in Germany, which is possible.
And that's two years away as he's only 16. His parents could live in Germany, but it needs to be for "non-football" reasons. That's a lot of work if you have (as mentioned in other articles) a Croatian passport.
Having the passport would be easier, but "non-football" reasons are fairly easy to work around. Dortmund is probably doing their part to move the paperwork through.
Different issues for foreign player restrictions in Spain than Germany. He's under contract, that's a big commitment. Also remember Matt Dunn was playing for FC Köln way back when, and he didn't have the same commitment from them that Dortmund has with CP.
The reason that Barcelona is facing sanctions is that they broke a *FIFA* rule on foreign players in their academy (including Ben Lederman) who were too young to come, even those who came with a parent. This has nothing to do with league rules. FIFA rules say you can't come into a country to play (including academy players) before age 18, unless your parents move for non-football reasons. There is a "cross-EU/EEA" exception that allows a move at age 16 to another EU country where you don't hold a passport. If it's so easy why didn't Haji Wright or Junior Flores go to Germany before age 18, when there was obvious interest? German clubs seem to be especially sensitive to not pushing the rules and are much more likely to do the "back-and-forth" training stints.
Haji doesn't turn 18 till March 2016. They list them as guest players, but they are under contracts already. Same for Haji's little brother. After the U17 world cup, they'll move permanently, if not sooner.
FIFA rules say they have to be 18 to move. The "loophole" you talk about for parents to move isn't that easy.
Okay, so you are backing away from your "fairly easy to work around" from earlier in this thread? Sure, it can be done, but Ben Lederman's dad moved with him (but with no EU passport) and it didn't work. When FIFA comes after Barcelona, you know they are being serious about it.
The issue for Barca was doing this in mass. It wasn't 1 or 2 players, but more like 10-15 non-Eu players. That is much more difficult to hide then one or two players.
I suppose that's possible and probably why they are being punished (once their appeal is finished), but it's a universal rule. I don't think teams want to be penalized for something like that.