American Soccer Players in Germany: weekly overview
Upwards of 30 American nationals are currently on the books of soccer teams in Germany. bundesliga.com brings you weekly progress reports on the likes of Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Josh Sargent and Gio Reyna...
Bundesliga
Club: Schalke
Position: Midfielder
Age: 21
McKennie started on the bench for Schalke's 1-1 draw with Cologne, but entered the fray to start the second half. His introduction changed the course of the match and gave the Royal Blues more attacking impetus; Schalke created has many goalscoring opportunities in the 15 minutes after his introduction as they had in the entire first half.
Despite only playing half of the match, McKennie made an impressive 45 runs, covered 3.8 miles, and won 10 challenges.
Club: Fortuna Düsseldorf (on loan from Manchester City)
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 24
USA No.1 Zack Steffen once again played the full 90 minutes for Fortuna in their 1-0 derby victory over Mainz. Düsseldorf had to fend off intense pressure in the first half before a Mainz sending off just before half time made the task easier, but Fortuna had built their defense on the rock-solid foundation laid down by Steffen. That stability meant that Rouwen Hennings's solitary late goal was enough to take all three points.
The match should live long in Steffen's memory; it was his first-ever Bundesliga clean sheet.
Club: RB Leipzig
Position: Midfielder
Age: 20
Tyler Adams was unable to participate in Leipzig's Matchday 8 draw with Wolfsburg due to a persistent groin injury. The midfielder is expected to return to first team training in the next couple of weeks, as confirmed by Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann.
Club: Werder Bremen
Position: Striker
Age: 19
Sargent opened the scoring for Werder Bremen in their 1-1 draw with Hertha Berlin. With only seven minutes of the match gone, the young striker ran at the Berlin defense before playing the ball wide to Maximilian Eggestein, collecting the return pass, and fired a deflected shot over Rune Jarstein.
The goal was his second of the campaign after scoring against Ausburg on Matchday 3.
Watch: Josh Sargent's MD3 Move of the Matchday
Club: Wolfsburg
Position: Centre-back
Age: 26
Brooks returned to the Wolfsburg setup after recovering from a hamstring injury suffered on international duty with the US national team. However, the club was unwilling to rush him back into the starting XI and risk the defender's fitness; Brooks watched all 90 minutes of Wolfsburg's 1-1 draw with RB Leipzig from the bench.
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Winger
Age: 31
Johnson was involved in the Foals' first three matches of the season, but missed out on the Matchday 7 win over Augsburg and the defeat to Dortmund on Matchday 8 with a groin injury.
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Full-back
Age: 29
The 29-time USMNT player did not make it off the bench in the Eagles' 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Matchday 8.
Club: Fortuna Düsseldorf
Position: Midfielder
Age: 29
Morales played no part in Düsseldorf's Rhineland derby victory over Mainz on Matchday 8, his absence enforced by an illness.
Club: Paderborn
Position: Winger/ Forward
Age: 26
On Matchday 7, Shelton came off the bench once again, playing nearly half an hour for Paderborn. In that time, he made 12 sprints and covered 2.24 miles as the Westphalians pushed Mainz right to the wire only to succumb to a 2-1 defeat.
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Position: Midfielder
Age: 16
Despite not playing a single minute for the senior Borussia Dortmund team, Reyna has been included in Dortmund's 31-man squad list for this year's Champions League. He has registered two goals and six assists in seven games for the BVB U19s in the A-Junior Bundesliga.
Club: Cologne
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 20
Scott has conceded nine goals and kept two clean sheets in his six appearances for the Cologne reserves in the Regionalliga West so far this term.
Club: Bayern Munich
Position: Right-back
Age: 19
Richards made his seventh appearance of the season, playing the full 90 minutes in the Bayern reserve team's 2-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig in the Third Division.
Bundesliga 2
Club: Hamburg
Position: Striker
Age: 26
Wood was an unused substitute in Hamburg's win against Julian Green's Greuther Fürth on Matchday 9.
Club: Greuther Fürth
Position: Winger
Age: 24
Now in his third season as a Greuther Fürth player, former Bayern Munich, Hamburg and VfB Stuttgart forward Green has three goals in 10 appearances. His most recent appearance was in the Bavarians' 2-0 home victory over Dynamo Dresden, in which Green played all 90 minutes.
Club: Hannover
Position: Striker
Age: 19
Soto was an unused substitute for the fourth time this season in Hannover's Matchday 9 win over Dynamo Dresden.
Look out for
Lennard Maloney - Union Berlin
Ulysses Llanez - Wolfsburg
Maurice Malone - Augsburg
Timothy Tillman - Bayern
Malik Tillman - Bayern
Giona Leibold - Wehen Wiesbaden
Matthew Hoppe - Schalke
Justin Butler - Bayern
Nick Taitague - Schalke
Isaiah Young – Bremen
Max Rugova - Nuremberg
Taylor Booth - Bayern
Michael Edwards – Wolfsburg
Mason Judge – Frankfurt
Maximilian Göggel – Stuttgart
Michael Wentzel – Gladbach
Joon-mo Kang – Dresden
Noah Jones – Leipzig