Should I Stay or Should I Go...

Discussion in 'Youth National Teams' started by TarHeels17, Feb 17, 2018.

  1. TarHeels17

    TarHeels17 Member+

    Jan 10, 2017
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As the 18th birthdays of players on the U17 team start rolling in, I'd like to start analyzing player career choices. I've listed the '00s that I think could have had pro offers in order of birthday.

    As a side note, you'll notice that this list is essentially split in half by players born January to March and players born from March to December.

    George Acosta, Mallorca?, 1/19: George never appeared to have any intention to stay in the US, and in recent years he played for Weston and Estudiantes. He recently was seen on his Instagram story to be with Akil Watts in Mallorca, but at this point there's been no official nor unofficial confirmation of anything. Last year there were rumors of teams like Leipzig and the Seattle Sounders being interested, but Mallorca has found a way to convince some of our prospects to join up. George is too good for college and hasn't been with Weston since their last game of the fall season on Deember 3rd, so he must be somewhere.

    Ayo Akinola, Toronto FC, 1/20: We know that Ayo was at least considering opportunities abroad given that he waited a long time to sign for Toronto. He trained abroad at PSV, and although we don't know if they offered him a contract, his wording in a recent interview where he describes his choice to stay at Toronto makes it seem like he had something of a choice: https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2018/...t-ayo-akinola-ready-take-next-step-toronto-fc. Based on his words, it was a simple matter of feeling like he could quickly integrate without much trouble, although playing time will be hard to come by for the first team.

    Isaac Angking, New England Revolution, 1/24: Isaac was much more involved with the U17s earlier in the cycle, something that can likely be attributed to his physical nature and early birthday. However, earning a homegrown contract with New England is a scarce occurrence, and this is a team where someone in his position can earn some playing time, which he has done in preseason. For him, unless there was some foreign interest we weren't aware of, his only options were likely college and a homegrown contract, and it's a good thing that the league minimum of $54,500 convinced him to go pro.

    Jake Arteaga, LA Galaxy Academy/University of Portland, 2/2: Jake spent some time at the end of the cycle with the U17s, but wasn't chosen for either qualifying or the World Cup. He's perhaps first in line of the Kleiban Galaxy academy graduates, but he seemingly chose to sign with Portland over taking a contract with Los Dos, which presumably was an option for someone that made 9 appearances for 535 minutes last year.

    Akil Watts, Mallorca, 2/4: Although there's no official confirmation yet, Akil's instagram bio says Mallorca in it, which is good enough for me. Akil was one of the first players to have to make decisions fast after Bradenton ended. When he joined Bradenton he was a part of the IMG Academy, but once Bradenton ended, he quickly joined up with the Portland Timbers and trained with the academy and T2 before moving abroad. His options are unknown, but considering his domestic options likely consisted of college and a USL contract with T2, moving abroad isn't unsurprising for a player good enough to make the World Cup roster.

    Chris Durkin, DC United, 2/8: Chris has always had rumors swirling of foreign, and usually Milanese, interest, and again they resurfaced in a report from Ives Galarcep stating Hannover and Inter are interested. Considering a lack of a European passport, Chris has done well to earn nearly 1500 professional minutes for Richmond Kickers and in the Open Cup for DC. The rest of his time with DC, and how/when he leaves, will be telling of DC and MLS in general.

    Josh Sargent, Werder Bremen, 2/20: Josh never really joined an MLS academy, and although you could say that he had an offer from SKC, @bshredder's interview with him (http://americansoccernow.com/articles/after-a-banner-year-in-2017-sargent-excited-for-the-future) revealed that Josh never really saw it as an option. Instead, Josh's decision came down to where to sign in Europe, and due to his performances in the U20 World Cup, there were concrete rumors from people ranging from Taylor Twellman to Werder Bremen themselves that there were much bigger clubs after him, possibly including Bayern, Dortmund, Schalke, and PSV. Josh has always maintained that he signed with Bremen because it felt like Saint Louis, which may be true, but it's more important that Bremen treat him as we know Dortmund, Schalke, and PSV would have. However, all recent news has been excellent, and although it seems unlikely that Josh will be eligible for a senior debut this season, waiting a few more months to join up with the first team full time won't kill him.

    Timothy Weah, PSG, 2/22: Tim moved to PSG at 14, and has done well enough to earn a pro contract over the summer with an extension coming soon. Not sure how much there is to talk about here, but a loan at some point seems inevitable and a good thing.

    Jaylin Lindsey, Kansas City, 3/27: There's been a lot of animosity towards SKC due to their treatment of EPB, but Jaylin has earned a ton of playing time this season that must at least point towards a debut and a very large amount of minute for Swope Park Rangers. We never really heard anything about him going abroad, and he was too good for college, so it doesn't seem like he ever wanted to sign anywhere besides here.

    Chris Richards, FC Dallas, 3/28: Chris flew under the radar for the entire U17 cycle, but a recent picture of him with Corey Gibbs and some rumors of Schalke picking up another American have seen opinions of him rise quickly. It could be said that this resembles Weston's situation, but given FC Dallas's developmental roster space is full, it seems like the only things that Dallas will be arguing about are training compensation and solidarity payments. It isn't clear whether Dallas offered him a contract or did and are just resigned to him not signing (and proceeding to sign 2 other center backs), but if he's good enough for Schalke, he's good enough for Dallas/MLS, and is another case of players from good Development Academies who aren't included in Bradenton developing at a rate that means they should've been on the World Cup roster, but aren't due to coach familiarity.

    JJ Foe Nuphaus, San Jose/Cal, 4/24: JJ spent a lot of time abroad abroad with Hoffenheim, then returned to San Jose, earned a couple of call ups to the U17s, and committed to Cal in October. I think he's currently on a USL academy contract and is going to play for Reno until college, but I'm not really sure what's going on here. I've always heard good things about Nuphaus, and I remember Doyle making subtle mentions he was going to sign as a homegrown over the summer, but things didn't turn out that way.

    Chris Goslin, Atlanta United, 5/12: Chris was definitely too good for college, and there was interest like 4 years ago of Malaga, but nothing recently indicated he didn't plan on signing with Atlanta. He'll hopefully get plenty of time for ATL2 this year, and his recent preseason performances have had twitter calling for him to replace McCann on the first team, and could reinforce a team that needs someone to reinforce their midfield beyond MLS journeymen. Along with Carleton, his usage will reveal a lot about Tata, Bocanegra, and Atlanta in general.

    Andrew Carleton, Atlanta United, 6/22: We all know Andrew has trained with the biggest teams in the world, obviously had European interest, but stayed in Atlanta to prove that a superstar can be made in America. Unlike Goslin, Tata indicated that Andrew could play for the first team, although we have no idea when or how much. He has the competition of a midlevel Serie A team, but he should still be getting minutes regardless due to fatigue and injuries, and even if he doesn't, he's thankfully now at an MLS team with a USL team where he should get plenty of minutes.

    James Sands, NYCFC, 7/6: Sands signed pretty early for NYCFC so we don't really know about foreign interest, and since there was no way of knowing how they were going to use him, I'd say I'm pleasantly surprised so far. He earned a 23 minute debut last season, and now it looks like he's firmly a part of the first team and Vieira seems like he has really good intentions with the youth players.

    Chris Gloster, Unattached, 7/28: Chris left the Red Bulls academy a few months ago, but unfortunately we haven't heard any good news yet. It seems Schalke chose not to sign him and offered contracts to Zyen and Booth instead, but Chris's search continues. I'm sure he could've gotten a USL contract with NYRBII, but it seems like that bridge has been burned. Hopefully he lands somewhere.

    Justin Garces, Atlanta United/UCLA, 8/23: Justin was another one of those guys who had to find a club after Bradenton, and he landed at Atlanta. I'm wondering when he can start getting playing time for ATL2, and there's no rumors yet of anything abroad, but I that seems like the trend for players who join Bradenton without an MLS club. He did sign with UCLA, and college is usually pretty good for keepers, but I wouldn't be surprised if he never steps on campus.

    Carlos Dos Santos, Benfica, 8/24: CJ moved to Benfica from the Union in 2016, and that seems to have treated him pretty well so far. Again, not much to talk about here, but I'm not really sure about his pro prospects.

    Zyen Jones, Schalke, 8/25: Zyen surprised everyone by getting a contract with Schalke, although nothing is official yet. There seems to be a general consensus that this will be a really good thing for a player that is seen as more of an athlete without a lot of tactical nous. Given Schalke sees something in him, he's obviously a little more than that, but still, he's not the type of player that develops into much in our system.

    Alex Mendez, LA Galaxy Academy, 9/6: I'm not fully sure on what's going on with Mendez, considering I can't find anything regarding a college commitment, he doesn't have a pro commitment, and yet he's one of the 5 academy players (Arteaga, Mendez, Sepulveda, Llanez, Alvarez) that has been training with the first team. I'm not fully familiar with his situation, but I figured I'd include him on here due to Gary Kleiban's incessant comments about him being the best '00 in the country, he has some notoriety even as a September birthday, and that he must be going somewhere professionally since he isn't going to college.

    Blaine Ferri, Solar Chelsea, 9/29: Blaine went back to Solar after Bradenton, and it appears that he'll be going to Nordsjaelland when he turns 18. He's another one of those guys that never really had any interest in MLS, and since this board is quite fond of Nordsjaelland recently, for now this seems like a good move. The only issue is the year of waiting he has to go through from the World Cup to his first transfer window as an 18 year old.

    Sergino Dest, Ajax, 11/3: Dest has quickly ascended after the World Cup, and he now seems to be held in the same regard as Lindsey, and even possibly higher. He's earning starts week after week even as the youngest player on the Ajax U19 roster, and could be one to surprise soon.

    Obviously, this is just a list of players I thought could spur a discussion, and there are more players that have made some decisions lately that could add to the discussion.
     
  2. Brotheryoungbuck

    Jan 24, 2015
    parts unknown
    Maybe a little under reported but I think Chris Richards signed to an letter of intent to UNC pretty recently.
     
  3. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    George Acosta was with NCFC for a while but I don’t believe he is anymore.
     

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