American Players Abroad

He’s just 19, but this reported Tim Weah transfer fee shows he’s already one of the most valuable American soccer players of all time.

The list of the 10 fastest Premier League players from the 2018-19 season is out, and the man at the top of the rankings is a bit of a surprise. But the biggest surprise is the position of the man coming in at No. 9.

Christian Pulisic played his final home match in front of Borussia Dortmund’s magnificent Yellow Wall on Saturday. The American 20-year-old will play for Chelsea come next fall, but he gave his home fans for the last four years a little parting gift against Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Pulisic opened the scoring with a diving head in the first half as Dortmund held on to a crucial 3-2 victory. Combined with RB Leipzig’s 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich, BVB is now two points back of the defending champions with one match to play.

Tim Weah, son of Liberia President and former FIFA Player of the Year winner George Weah, headlines a stacked USMNT U-20 World Cup roster, which was announced by U.S. Soccer on Friday morning. 

Remember Mix Diskerud?

What the heck has he been up to lately?

The USMNT midfielder with 38 caps (and six goals) to his name, made splashy headlines when Manchester City signed him from sister club New York City FC. He’s more or less disappeared from the face of the earth since then.

But fear not, friends, Diskerud has been sighted once more!

Richard Ledezma, an 18-year-old Phoenix native, scored his first goal since joining PSV Eindhoven on Saturday, netting in a 1-1 draw for the U-19s against NAC Breda.

Ledezma, a dual national who has represented the USMNT at youth levels but remains eligible to represent Mexico, moved to the Netherlands in December. 

It’s raining sideways in Herzogenaurach on Monday evening with the temperature hovering in the low 40s. With a colossal match against Augsburg — one place above Schalke in the desperate battle to avoid the Bundesliga relegation playoff — looming the following Sunday, you could forgive Weston McKennie for being in a foul mood after traveling over 400 kilometers from Gelsenkirchen to arrive at adidas headquarters in Herzo for an evening of interviews. 

DeAndre Yedlin made a big move after the 2014 World Cup, leaving his hometown club Seattle Sounders for Tottenham Hotspur in August of that year. Five years later, his youth club Crossfire Premier has been denied solidarity payments on the transfer (which cost the English Premier League club about $3.71 million), ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle reported.

Borussia Dortmund is in a near dead heat with Bayern Munich, Lucien Favre’s men trying to dethrone Bayern Munich, which has won the last six Bundesliga titles. 

Archrival Schalke may have derailed BVB’s title hopes on Saturday after two identically boneheaded tackles by Dortmund players saw the home side reduced to nine men before suffering a 4-2 defeat at Signal Iduna Park.

Konrad de la Fuente is living the true American dream right now. The 17-year-old Miami native is rising through the ranks of the Barcelona academy, playing for the Barcelona B squad and in the UEFA Youth League (essentially the Champions League for youth teams).