With apologies and thanks to @naopon, who does a lot of work on Japanese players in this thread... https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/yanks-in-the-j-league.2114640/ ... it seemed time to give this guy a thread. It was previously noted that Chase, a Japan-born, partly American-raised, ’04 with an American father and a Japanese mother, had a trial at AZ. Stuttgart and Ajax may also be in the mix, according to this November (German) article and many others. https://www.fussballtransfers.com/a...b-begeistert-von-chase-probetraining-bei-ajax He’s an unusual case because, among other things, he’s apparently unaffiliated despite being in the mix for JYNTs. That could aid a move. He turns 18 in March, according to T’Markt. https://www.transfermarkt.us/anrie-chase/profil/spieler/948537 He deserves a thread no matter what, but while I’d generally assume most Japan-based and -raised Japanese-Americans are probably not in play for the U.S., there are enough things that stand out about him that, who knows. Either way, he seems like he has a shot to have an interesting career. With all that said, I’m not absolutely sure he whether he is provisionally cap-tied to Japan — though I am (semi-wildly) guessing he is not. He played for them last year in Asian YNT tournament, but I’m not sure the competition was “official” for cap-tying purposes. He has callups at other levels but I don’t think those translated into cap-tying matches. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/...ring-the-afc-u-23-asian-news-photo/1349338843
Thanks @Dave Marino-Nachison. Reports in Germany have Chase close to signing for Stuttgart either this winter or in the summer. He has finished his senior high school season and will formally graduate in March, but notably there are zero reports linking him with J.League clubs despite preseason training kicking off around this week for most teams. Meanwhile, Japan has called Chase up as a "training partner" to the senior Japan squad to their domestic January camp, alongside 2 college players. They originally had a friendly with Uzbekistan planned which was called off after failing to gain government approval for the match, and he most certainly won't be in the squad for the 2 WCQ matches with European-based players in the mix. But he is on an exceptionally fast track for a kid who hasn't tasted pro ball yet, with an inordinate amount of press attention. Unlike most Japanese-Americans affiliated with Japanese soccer, he does have a strong connection to the US, having grown up there through age 12-13 and professing to still be more comfortable speaking English (though his Japanese sounds quite native). He's worth going after from a USMNT perspective, but the JFA will definitely try hard to hold on to him.
He's definitely a center back, blessed with aerial superiority and excellent speed. Stuttgart seem to be in pole position for his signature, with an American coach who is willing to use untested youngsters and two Japanese teammates.
According to "multiple sources", Anrie Chase will sign with VfB Stuttgart after he turns 18 on March 24 and be registered this summer. He will join 3 compatriots: American manager Pellegrino Matarazzo and the Japanese players Hiroki Ito and Wataru Endo.
Chase has signed officially for Stuttgart, beginning this July 1 and initially joining up with the 2nd team. https://www.vfb.de/de/vfb/aktuell/neues/junge-wilde/2122/verpflichtung-anrie-chase/
Chase's high school alma mater (he graduated last month) is holding a press conference streamed on IG Live, flanked by the school principal, high school coach, his parents, as well as a big name: Stuttgart's sporting director Sven Mislintat (ex-Dortmund/Arsenal) live from Germany on Zoom. Mislintat reveals that VfB beat a number of European clubs to Chase's signature.
Started four matches for Japan's U23s in the AFC U23 Asian Cup earlier this month and is set to join Stuttgart II training on July 11:
Has made 6 appearances so far for Stuttgart II for a total of 86 minutes, with having missed some time due to an injury as well. Pretty interesting path straight from Japanese high school while also being very integrated into the Japanese setup at the same time - even having trained with the senior team last year and getting lots of praise from senior team manager Hajime Moriyasu. Also interesting about his path - as noted by naopon earlier - is that he lived in Texas for nine years before moving back to Japan at the start of junior high. That was also when he began playing soccer at 12 years old, where he said he was the "the worst in junior high school and couldn't keep up." That article is full of fascinating tidbits, such as the following (Google translated): Crazy how things change, huh? It now looks like he could be part of a very strong Japanese generation that is seeing lots of overseas movement. Nonetheless, his US connection is notable... Edit: Also found this recent cutup of him in a 1/23 friendly against Rheindorf Altach (and their manager Miroslav Klose) of the Austrian Bundesliga... can see how he's very raw right now:
Highlights from a league match on 4/21, courtesy of the opposition's (Kickers Offenbach) livestream channel. The commentator doesn't know that "Chase" is pronounced as the English word, calling him "Sha-zeh" (in Japanese he is called Cheisu Anri). He was interviewed by the Bundesliga's official media crew. Google Translate version (fixed in places) below:
Could be Yanks on three out of four teams in Group C at the U20s -- four, if Senegal has someone I'm not aware of.
First team appearance in a friendly: 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 (current 🇯🇵 u20) Anrie Chase subs in for Stuttgart’s first team in their friendly today #USMNT https://t.co/wh6VVZXO8i— USMNT burner (@burnerusmnt) September 8, 2023