The official "Some site says this guy is a Yank" detective work thread

According to a Caribbean scout / researcher who has been trustworthy in the past, Nathan Young-Coombes has a grandmother from America. His source was the player. Hard to say as always in these cases whether or not he'd even be eligible for the US. Young-Coombes is a striker and made one appearance for Brentford in '22 then went on loan last season with AFC Wimbledon in League Two scoring three goals over 11 appearances. He spent time with the youth academies of Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Rangers before joining Brentford. He's still young for the position and has a bit of pedigree so probably worth tracking his progress. There's surely other options ahead of him, but with Toney missing the first half of the season maybe he can work is way into the squad during cup matches.

 

The interesting thing is that his US citizenship hinges on his mother/father. If that parent lived in the US for at least 5 years (2 after the age of 14), then Young-Coombes would likely be eligible for US citizenship (that's assuming the grandmother lived in the US long enough to pass on citizenship). But in most cases, since it's the grandmother and not the parent described as American, it's not likely the parent was in the US long (if at all). Most "granny cases" don't end up leading to a US passport.

 

Indeed, this is very likely TAA, Charlie Mulgrew, Bradley Johnson, Ryan Strain etc. all over again. This information was discovered in the process of the scout trying to learn more about Young-Coombes Jamaican ancestry and his interest in playing for the Reggae Boyz. The scout knew I tracked players with connections to America, so he mentioned it to me. I don't really have anything past the fact that Young-Coombes apparently said his grandma was from America in the course of their conversation. I sent a follow-up query after it was mentioned but haven't heard anything back yet.

Just passing along the information I had as I'm not really in a position to take it any further, and I haven't seen it pop up anywhere else. The most likely outcome is that he's not eligible to play for the US or we would have already heard his name considering he's played for England's U15,16, and 17 teams and is on the periphery of a Premier League squad. I know the US has improved at all levels recently, but he was player of the year and scored 34 goals for Brentford B in '22 and was off to a great start at Wimbledon in League Two before sustaining an injury. He has obviously caught the eyes of some pretty prestigious clubs already in his short career. Seems like someone that might be in the mix given the performances of our young strikers outside of Pepi.

 

Another probable young Yank who just needs a little confirmation on citizenship:

@ChuckMe92 tweeted this:

Congrats to Austyn Jones on his goal and trophy for the U15s of Utrecht over AZ Alkmaar.

The Dutch U15 winger is also eligible for the USA. One rumor says he will move to PSV's academy for next season although that is unconfirmed. https://t.co/9jwMenZVJ3

— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) June 10, 2023

And @Luksarus had previously tweeted this:

Dutch-American right winger Austyn Jones '08 from FC Utrecht made his debut for the Dutch U15 national team recently. pic.twitter.com/xLyTdpgdn4

— Lucas Aguirre (@luksarus) May 7, 2023

TM profile says he is a Dutch-born dual US citizen: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/austyn-jones/profil/spieler/1135624

 

Some smoke for Aboh possibly being US-eligible as he has re-posted Folarin Balogun into his new Instagram story. Aboh also has English and Nigerian eligibility per Transfermarkt. Perhaps he was born in the US to a Nigerian family and raised in England. Credit to Micah W on Twitter for spotting this.

Aboh seems to have had a solid season with 8G+3A in 1044 U18 Premier League minutes and 3 goals in 647 U23 Premier League minutes.

 

A couple of more from Micah W:

Brothers both at Blackburn Rovers
James Edmondson
Stephen Edmondson

New American abroad! James Edmondson is an English-American dual nat currently with Blackburn Rovers. The 17 year old CM is currently in the U18 squad along with his brother who will be next post.

— micah w (@micahw1718) June 20, 2023

Stephen Edmondson is also an English-American dual-nat that additionally plays midfield. He has just recently broken into the U18 squad. https://t.co/fgkV71aIJT

— micah w (@micahw1718) June 20, 2023

Neither TM profile shows US citizenship, but James' profile lists an ominous clue: Grandfather from the United States

We know that American grandparent usually isn't enough for US citizenship unless Mom or Dad lived in the US for quite a while. And if one of them lived in the US, you'd usually name the parent as the citizen.

 

Kahveh Zahiroleslam, a Junior at Yale is on trial at Sint-Truiden in Belgium.

 

I'm guessing that's how they both ended up with American nationality in the Football Manager database. However those nationalities get set they're pretty good about incorporating information when it ends up on official team websites. I feel like we're getting to the point of needing a players with American grandparents thread or something. A bunch of these maybe (but probably not) Americans showing up lately. I'm guessing it will only be more frequent as the profile of the USMNT increases in the coming years. Especially in England where pathway has been provided by Balogun and Musah.

 

Yale has his hometown as Saratoga, CA. So he spent timer there and played with De Anza Force. Not sure though.

 

Twenty-one year old CB/RB Michael Kaufman recently transferred to the second team of Peruvian powerhouse Universitario. TM has him listed as a dual national American. Has a couple appearances in the cup competition as well as Liga 2. He's fairly highly rated in football manager relative to his league and age despite the lack of playing time currently. Might be one for the future.

 

Logging some from Transfermarkt that couldn’t easily have connections confirmed:

• Marvin Dills - ’07 with Eintracht Frankfurt
• Mohamed Ezz Eldin (seems to go by Simo) - ’03 GK with Egyptian giants Zamalek, formerly with Getafe and Leganes. Listed as being born in Colorado
• Can Erdal - ’04 with setup of Turkish club Ümraniyespor (just relegated from the Super Lig). Listed with a New York birthplace
• Danijel Sukara - ’04 midfielder in FK Zeljeznicar’s setup. Looks like a recent highlight video here but no mention of anything related to eligibility
• Sami Mazen Dauleh - ’04 GK with Al Rayyan of Qatar. Was with Qatar U20s and made the bench for some Stars League matches
• Sheung-Hei Poon - ’06 GK with Hong Kong U17s
• Jeymer Díaz - Potential US/Puerto Rico/Bolivia eligible, seems to have gotten some hype on social media from Bolivian fans, was playing for Puerto Rico Sol, looks to have played some HS soccer in Virginia, now maybe in Bolivia
• Santiago Pérez - ’04 GK with Monterrey that is listed as being born in Texas
• Jesús Toledo - ’03 with Atletico San Luis U20s listed as being born in Texas
• Luis Lee - ’03 with Mazatlan U20s listed as being born in California