u17 and u18 players turning pro?

Yeah, of the U-17's, I've heard that MLS is looking at "Memo" Gonzalez, Brandon Owens, Eddie Gaven and Jonathon Spector. There may be others as well, but those are the names I've seen bandied about. Which they'll actually offer a contract to, and who will sign, I dunno, but those are the ones that have garnered interest.

MLS usually does sign a player or two a year who is in high school, so I'd suspect at least 2 or 3 would be in the upcomming SuperDraft. Recent notables who were in that general age range include DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Edson Buddle, Eddie Johnson, Santino Quaranta and Devin Barclay.

Generally MLS prefers them to stay at Bradenton in residency until after the U-17 Championships, but if they're receiving offers from Europe I suspect MLS will make an exception. I know that Gonzalez has some interest from European clubs already, so he's a likely candidate. I'm sure the LA Galaxy are closely watching that development, as he's local to them and just what they need in their midfield for the future.

-Tron

 

Don't forget about Sergio Flores. He's signed already for Chacarita, a historic club in BsAs, Argentina. Also known for having some really mean-spirited hoolies that wage war against CD Atlanta.

FYI

 

Agree that the MLS prefers for the 17's to stay in residency until after World Championships. A lot of changes in development take place over that next year. Of course there are always exceptions. As for the 18's:
Pro:
Capano- Chicago Fire
Flores - Chacarita
School:
Freeman - UVA
Villabbos - Freeman

Not Committed:
Out of the players who have not committed anywhere and are still in high school there has been interest in Alvarez(a-mid, f), Hall (d-mid),
Dalby(d), Landers (gk). These players are all also being highly recruited by colleges as I am sure all of the 18's are. I am sure that there also other players who could be considered. From the 18's trip to Europe the starters were
Landers(Kartunen), Dalby,Freeman, Phelan,Hall,Barrett,Capano,Alvarez,Flores,Norman,
Christman. I do not have exact minutes or exact lineups for each game so I am sure that this may not be 100% accurate. To round out the team,
Villaboos,Chambers,Etherington,Ianni,Zaher,Smith.

 

Sorry about the typo. Villaboos is playing at Furman.

 

Commitments on studentsports.theinsiders.com shows Kartunen headed to Stanford. Landers and Dalby are two years from graduation and have been mentioned on this site as interested in Europe. Alvarez would be another pick to go pro. Ianni's older brother was a star at UCLA, perhaps he'll follow.
There is not much news about these U-18s. USSF hasn't changed their roster from the previous team with Cronin, etc.
This is the time for official visits...the list of 2003 verbal commitments should expand during the next month.

 

Word on Guillermo Gonzalez and what his plans are?

 

Man City was interested in Landers but there was a problem with working papers.There was a story but it must have gotten lost when BS crashed.Arturo Alvarez,Will Hall and Dalby are all being recruited by colleges and could still decide to go pro.Gonzalez is too young to be recruited by colleges but may try and go pro before then.

 

There was some discussion of Gonzalez in this thread:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7749

The condensed version is that Seny69, who seems to have some connection to the U17s, said Gonzalez had a try-out with Borussia Dortmund, and that it went well.

 

Locality is one of the big things with MLS when they sign the young ones. MLS has said for a team to pick a U-17 the team should be close to where the player is from or, at the least, has to have a set-up for the player to finish high school and people to live with.

 

Keep working on that game man, sounds like you've got lots of potential if Leeds is looking at you. You'd have to work out the work permit situation though if you're relatives don't come from Europe.

 

Brian,

The textbook story of Jovan Kirovski is a very good example. He went to Man United youth system at 16 as you did right now. He shined when he was 19 in reserve games by scoring 20 goals in 21 games. He was offered the first team contract better than all his teammates--Beckham, Scholes, etc, but he cannot get the work permit because he didn't play 75% of US games. (I have to blame US coaches in that time why just gave him some sub minutes to make the quoto). So if you have a way to get an EU possport, like Reyna did, you may need to look for another leagues, such as Dutch. John O'Brien is another good example who has no EU passport.

 

I'm sure others could explain it in more detail but I'll give it a shot. In order to play in England, you need to either have a passport from a country that is member of the European Union (EU) or a work permit.

A work permit is for non-EU residents and can be difficult to attain. To receive a work permit, you have to have played in 75% or more of your countries national team matches and your country must have a certain ranking in the world. There are also some special circumstances that can be argued for on appeal but it becomes difficult.

Therefore, Leeds was probably hinting to you that you should search your family lineage for someone that is a citizen of an EU country. If that person is within two (?) generations of you, then I think you can apply for a passport from that country and henceforth, avoid the work perit route.

For example, Greg Berhalter holds an Irish passport I think.

Murf

 

This isn't quite true...countries like Norway, Iceland and Denmark aren't official EU members, but for complicated reasons, players with passports from these countries do not need a work permit.

 

First of all, I wouldn't completely trust anything you hear on these boards regarding legal stuff like passports. We're knowledgeable, but we're hardly international lawyers (at least, I don't know any international lawyers on this board). I would contact someone at Leeds regarding the procedures for EU passports. If one of your parents or grandparents was born in Europe, I'd contact that embassy for the country in which they were born.

Second, I am pretty sure that different work permit rules apply to youth players. Again, though, I'd confirm this with Leeds (or whoever is trying to sign you).

Third, the general message is correct: if you don't hold an EU passport, it is often quite hard for an American to get a work permit in England. This is one of the reasons why there are so many Americans playing in Germany and Holland, and relatively few playing in England.

 

Brian - I have to concur with the type_32. I'd just add, too, that, in any discussions you have on topic, telling people, "But these guys on this internet message board said..." is probably not the best tactic. Good luck and play well!

 

Good luck! Like I said before, if some problem arises or whatever, contact the club. I am sure they've dealt with this kind of thing a million times.

 

This is 100% speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Hunter Freeman--UVa Freshman and Dallas Spurs PDL player--enter the MLS SuperDraft. At the UVa tournament he was one of the best players, despite being their youngest. He can play anywhere on the backline, is big, athletic, has a physical presence, can organize the backline, attack as a wingback, and effortlessly play Dmid or Hmid or wingmid. He's one to watch.

-Tron