Thomas Rongen said in USA today that rite now there are over 200 US players in Europe rite now under 20 years old.
yeah but you gotta remember most of them are dual passport holders that allow them to move over there. for example lichaj was able to move to aston villa at a young age bc he had a polish passport so in the eyes of british law he was a european union passport holder. same with spector going to man u with a german passport. if you only have an american passport you could and probably would run into trouble with labor laws, if you're under 18 that is.
It's not the labor laws for U18s as they haven't signed contracts yet. The real problem is that FIFA bans the international transfer of players under the age of 18. So if a kid only has an American passport he won't be able to play in an academy unless his parents move with him for non soccer reasons. If the FIFA law wasn't in place then American kids who only had one passport could play in youth academies. We had a few youth yanks do this before the law was passed but in certain countries (France, Spain, UK) you run into problems when the player nears 18. In order to sign a pro deal at 18 in those countries you have to have an EU passport.
Is Bobby Wood a dual citizen? I know he is from Hawaii he has been in Germany since he was like 14 or 15. I am not sure.
Bobby went to Germany before the law was in place. The law was passed recently like a year or two ago. Also Germany doesn't really have any restrictions on American players in their leagues/academies thats why we have so many over there. The countries with the strictest rules are France, Spain, Italy, and the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)
Tell me if you know the answer to this question. Assuming there was a player that an English club thought was exceptionally talent as a youth, but was American. Would said club be able to bring the player's parents to England so that they could put him in their academy? Just curious.
Not overtly. It is possible that a good paying job for mom or dad could become available all of the sudden. The parents, however, would also be subject to work permit rules as well. England is probably a bad example because of the fact that it is so hard to get a work permit.
Yes. I know many cases that the above has happened. There's a kid at Arsenal who is originally from France. I know that they flew his whole family (Grandparents, Parents, Siblings) over to London and gave them a house, jobs etc
So a club couldn't sneak it in, give them a fake job. I heard Barcelona did that with some prospects, but I'm not sure about it. Is he from France, or some other African country or something?
There are two American kids at Barcelona who moved to Spain with their parents, but I'm not sure if it's the same thing.
The case I am referring to is pretty complicated and unknown, however the kid was originally from Cameroon, and it was said he was an illegal immigrant in France. There were a lot of rumours a few years ago now about how they had to fly him back into Cameroon via private jet, forged documents etc, but nothing ever came of it. I know clubs can and do give imported parents jobs around the training facility like groundsman, gardeners, cooks, cleaners etc.
That's what I've heard too. I assume those parents weren't eligible for work permits, so the club somehow arranged it for them to get in. Not that a middle class American family would uproot to England to work as a janitor, but it's just interesting for me at least, to contemplate all the hurdles an American player without a foreign born parents would need to clear just to play for an English youth academy.
An article about a 10 year old from Baltimore who was invited to a professional academy in Italy. His father is going to have to move to italy with him until he is 14 then he can be by himself, so it must be he has to work there for a year or two establish residency then he can go back to the states. Not sure how it works but this kid isn't from Italy he is African American.
Can somebody tell me more about the 10 year old americans that beat the barcelona 10 year olds, Can somebody give me an article about that? Where were these kids from?
WHich kid is this? My friends nephew, bouchy, who is Egyptian-American is 5 and born in the USA I believe, plays for barca' in spain, in the youth level at that age.
Yea, this is my friends nephew lol. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRVmvSFklHo"]YouTube - Bouchy 5 years old Messi - NEW 2010[/ame]
Wow man. My dream of seeing an American at Barca might just come true. Now on to the 10-12 year wait before I can justifiably get excited about any of this...
Yea he's pretty good. Wonder what he'll look like at 15! Only time will tell..... if he's a beast though, it will be cool to know a kid at teh barcelona academy with US ties. And I'd get to visit him and watch a Barca' game!
By US ties I hope you mean suiting up in a US jersey but the affirmations that the kid is indeed "superstar" in the comments section are comical.
How does an american end up at the barcelona academy at 5 years old? Did his parents have to move there with them? How does that work? Is it free for him at 5 years old?
Yea, his mom and dad are there. I dont want to go into 'how' cause thats personal, and I dont think my buddys sis would appreciate that much. But her and dad are there with him! Its a once in a lifetime chance!