Jay Stucchio

August 22, 2021 Gregg Berhalter has gotten a lot right throughout his spell as U.S. Men’s National Team manager. With a generation full of talent unbeknownst to long-time United States fans, Berhalter has the privilege of the deepest player pool a U.S. manager has ever had. Encouragingly, he’s given lots of this young generation debuts and put his trust in players like Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna and Valencia’s Yunus Musah before their 18th birthdays.

There are few American players who have displayed technical skill as well as New York Red Bulls’ Caden Clark has since signing an MLS contract in October of 2020. At 17 years old, Caden Clark burst onto the scene scoring a volley from the top of the penalty area against Atlanta United just one day after signing for a New York Red Bulls team chasing a spot in the playoffs.

Since the start of 2020, Major League Soccer has moved 10 homegrown players to European clubs for over $40 million before bonuses. America’s top division has quickly moved from “retirement league” to a league developing both domestic and foreign talent at an impressive rate. The rate of these sales is not going to decrease in the immediate future and is more likely to increase for a multitude of factors.