American Soccer Players in Germany: The season so far
Upwards of 30 American nationals are currently on the books of soccer teams in Germany, but how have the likes of Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Josh Sargent and Gio Reyna fared so far?
bundesliga.com brings you up to date on their performances this term.
Watch: The top 10 USA goals of the past decade!
Club: Schalke
Position: Midfielder
Age: 21
Bundesliga games this season: 24
Starts: 20
Now in his third full season as a professional, McKennie is very much a first-team regular at Schalke. Head coach David Wagner was full of praise for the Texan at the start of the campaign, calling him "an outstanding talent", and saying he "can be one of the Bundesliga's best midfielders".
McKennie has certainly lived up to those words, starting 20 of the Royal Blues' 29 league games to date - the only times he hasn't played have been due to injury. The USA international has won over 60 per cent of all aerial challenges this term and completed 84.5 per cent of his passes, while he scored his first goal of 2019/20 in Schalke's 1-1 draw at home to Hoffenheim on Matchday 25 and added his second in the 2-1 defeat to Fortuna Düsseldorf on Matchday 28.
Able to play in defensive midfield, attacking midfield, as a defender or even as an auxiliary striker, McKennie's versatility is a prized asset, although the player himself prefers being given license to roam as a box-to-box dynamo.
He is suspended for Schalke's Matchday 30 meeting with Union Berlin, after collecting his fifth yellow card of the campaign in the 1-0 defeat to Werder Bremen.
Watch: Weston McKennie's Roots
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Position: Midfielder
Age: 17
Bundesliga games this season: 11
Starts: 0
Reyna, the son of former USA international Claudio, arrived in Dortmund in summer 2019. After dazzling in the club's U19 side in the first half of the season he was promoted to the Dortmund first team on a permanent basis during the winter break.
The teenager's star has continued to rise since then and he has featured in 10 games of the Rückrunde. Furthermore, he scored his first senior goal in the DFB Cup against Werder Bremen and grabbed an assist on his Champions League debut against Paris Saint-Germain.
Reyna was rewarded with a place in the Dortmund starting line-up for the Revierderby against Schalke on Matchday 26, only to suffer an injury in the warm-up. He was, however, fit enough for an 11-minute cameo in the 2-0 win over Wolfsburg a week later, before playing 18 minutes against Bayern on Matchday 28 and 10 against Paderborn on Matchday 29.
Watch: Reyna living the dream!
Club: RB Leipzig
Position: Midfielder
Age: 21
Bundesliga games this season: 8
Starts: 6
Like Steffen, Adams has missed much of the campaign through injury. He was absent for almost the entire first half of the campaign with a persistent groin problem, but made a surprise comeback on Matchday 17 just before the winter break, starting in Leipzig's 3-1 win over Augsburg.
The New York native began each of the team's next four Bundesliga outings in early 2020 as Julian Nagelsmann's side kept up their title challenge, but a calf injury in training sent him to the sidelines once again. He returned to the starting line-up in the 1-1 draw with Freiburg on Matchday 26, but had to settle for a role as a second-half substitute in the 5-0 win in Mainz a week later.
An injury to Kevin Kampl in the warm-up saw Adams start Leipzig's 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin on Matchday 28. Despite impressing as a right wing-back, he dropped to the bench for the 4-2 win in Cologne, entering the fray as a 59th-minute substitute.
Watch: Adams remaining focused during self-isolation
Club: Fortuna Düsseldorf (on loan from Manchester City)
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 25
Bundesliga games this season: 17
Starts: 17
It has been something of a roller coaster season for Steffen at Düsseldorf. Handed the No.1 spot following his arrival on loan from Manchester City last summer, the goalkeeper immediately showed why the club brought him in, making a league-high 10 saves on his debut against Werder Bremen on Matchday 1.
It was no one-off. His assured displays between the posts and in his penalty area in general garnered compliments from Düsseldorf's sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel: "Zack is the perfect example of a modern goalkeeper: very good with both feet, very good in the air, well-developed technically and a very good communicator."
Steffen played the full 90 minutes in each of Düsseldorf's 17 league games in the first half of the season, even making the second-most saves (67) in the entire league during that time, but a serious knee injury has kept him out of action since. After working his way back to fitness during the coronavirus hiatus, the Pennsylvania native suffered another injury setback, again to his knee, and he looks to be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Club: Werder Bremen
Position: Striker
Age: 20
Bundesliga games this season: 22
Starts: 12
After scoring two goals in 10 games in his debut senior campaign in 2018/19, Sargent was handed greater responsibility this term following the departure of Max Kruse and early season injuries to fellow strikers Milot Rashica, Fin Bartels and Yuya Osako.
The 20-year-old has repaid coach Florian Kohfeldt's faith in him with three goals and two assists in 18 outings this season. He started six times before the winter break, and registered those pair of assists in draws against Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, no less, but he slipped down the pecking order somewhat following the winter arrival of Davie Selke.
Nevertheless, the 12-time USA international has featured in every league game in 2020. He started his side's 1-0 win at Freiburg which snapped their winless run of seven games, played 74 minutes of Werder's impressive 0-0 draw against high-flying Gladbach on Matchday 28 and faced US compatriot McKennie for the first time in the Bundesliga in the 1-0 win at Schalke on Matchday 30, completing 79 minutes.
Watch: Josh Sargent's MD3 Move of the Matchday
Club: Wolfsburg
Position: Centre-back
Age: 27
Bundesliga games this season: 20
Starts: 20
Brooks began the season as Wolfsburg's go-to defender once again and he helped the side earn seven points from their first three games before a hamstring injury kept him out of action for six weeks in September and October.
Jeffrey Bruma and Marcel Tisserand had deputised well in his stead alongside Robin Knoche, but the Berlin-born hulk still managed to regain his spot in the side by Matchday 9.
With the Wolves pushing for a top-six finish, the 38-time US international is vital to their cause and Brooks helped his side to two clean sheets and a run of five matches unbeaten with the American in their side prior to the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Dortmund on Matchday 27. He also helped the side record an impressive 4-1 win away to Bayer Leverkusen on Matchday 28, but could not stop the Wolves going down 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Winger
Age: 32
Bundesliga games this season: 6
Starts: 3
It's been a tough season for Johnson. He started two of the team's first three Bundesliga matches and looked on course to establish his place in the team under new coach Marco Rose, but was subsequently forced to the sidelines for several weeks with a groin injury.
The 32-year-old recovered fitness in mid-November but with Gladbach in-form and top of the table at the time, Rose was understandably reluctant to change a winning team, meaning Johnson had to be patient with a bit-part role.
Not helped by muscular problems, he has only made one start since the winter break - the team's 3-1 win over Mainz on Matchday 19 - whilst picking up just a handful of minutes as a substitute.
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Full-back
Age: 30
Bundesliga games this season: 18
Starts: 11
Chandler had a difficult time of things last year and missed the majority of 2018/19 with a serious knee injury - only playing 16 minutes all season - and he started the current campaign on the bench as his former back-up on the right, Danny da Costa, retained his place following consistently top-class performances in Chandler’s absence.
However, Frankfurt went on a length winless run towards the end of the year, forcing head coach Adi Hütter into a tactical rethink. They switched from a three-man backline to a four-man defence - opening up space for Chandler on the right side of midfield.
He has started seven of Eintracht's nine Bundesliga games in 2020, contributing four goals and an assist in that period, but was a second-half substitute in the Matchday 26 defeat to Gladbach and again away to Bayern a week later. He came off the bench once more on Matchday 28, scoring a dramatic late equaliser in a 3-3 draw against Freiburg. His reward was a starting berth in the 2-1 win at Wolfsburg.
Club: Fortuna Düsseldorf
Position: Midfielder
Age: 29
Bundesliga games this season: 23
Starts: 17
Düsseldorf may have struggled near the foot of the table for the majority of the season, but so impressive have been Morales' biting, aggressive displays in defensive midfield that he earned a recall to the US national team in September 2019 after a three-year absence.
Although primarily charged with being a defensive shield, Morales has still registered a goal and two assists in the Bundesliga this season. He made his 23rd league outing of the season in Fortuna's defeat away to Bayern on Matchday 29.
Club: Wolfsburg
Position: Midfielder
Age: 19
After signing from the LA Galaxy academy in 2019, Llanez made waves in Wolfsburg's U19 side and was promoted to the first team in April 2020. He was named in the matchday squad for the first time on Matchday 28 as the Wolves thrashed Bayer Leverkusen, but was an unused substitute throughout.
Club: Cologne
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 20
Brady Scott has conceded 15 goals and kept two clean sheets in his 11 appearances for the Cologne reserves in the Regionalliga West so far this term, helping the side to fifth in the standings prior to the enforced break in play.
Club: Bayern Munich
Position: Right-back
Age: 19
Chris Richards has made 23 appearances for the Bayern Munich reserve team in Germany's 3. Liga in 2019/20, scoring three times to contribute to the team sitting in fourth place in the standings, only three points behind the automatic promotion places.
Bundesliga 2
Club: Hamburg
Position: Striker
Age: 26
It has been a tough season for Bobby Wood, who last played for Hamburg at the end of November 2019. He has been an unused substitute in five of HSV's last 14 league games.
Club: Greuther Fürth
Position: Winger
Age: 24
Former Bayern Munich, Hamburg and VfB Stuttgart forward Julian Green started the season brightly, scoring three goals in his first six games. He had struggled with injuries since early November, but the coronavirus outbreak gave him an opportunity to recover. He was a second-half substitute in the Clover Leaves' 2-0 defeat at home to Osnabrück on Matchday 28, and started the 1-1 draw with Darmstadt a week later.
Club: Hannover
Position: Striker
Age: 19
After making his Bundesliga debut for Hannover in 2018/19, Soto could have been forgiven for hoping his big breakthrough might arrive this term, with the team in the second tier.
However, personnel changes - both on the pitch and among the coaching staff - have made for a trying situation for the youngster, who has just two Bundesliga 2 appearances to his name this term.
Club: Greuther Fürth
Position: Winger
Age: 21
Tillman left Bayern for Greuther Fürth in January and made his Bundesliga 2 debut in the 4-2 defeat at home to Arminia Bielefeld on Matchday 22.
He was in the starting line-up as the action resumed on Matchday 26, playing 75 minutes of his side's 2-2 draw at home to Hamburg. He began again on Matchday 28 against Osnabrück, but was taken off for Julian Green at half-time. On Matchday 29, he was a 66th-minute substitute for Nunoo Sarpei.
Look out for
Lennard Maloney - Union Berlin (on loan at Chemnitz)
Maurice Malone - Augsburg
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