U.S. Teens Kayo, Hernandez-Foster Sign With Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg is taking on another pair of U.S. internationals.
Teenage prospects Bryang Kayo and Kobe Hernandez-Foster have joined the Bundesliga club, which already employs U.S. veteran John Brooks, rising forward talent Ulysses Llanez and center back Michael Edwards.
According to Wolfsburg's announcement, the 17-year-old Kayo will play in the midfield for the club's U-23 side, while the 18-year-old Hernandez-Foster will suit up at fullback for the U-19s, where Edwards spent the last season.
Like Edwards and Llanez, both Kayo and Hernandez-Foster have MLS academy background, with Kayo going to Wolfsburg via D.C. United (and USL's Orange County SC) and Hernandez-Foster rising through the LA Galaxy youth ranks.
Kayo and Hernandez-Foster are U.S. U-17 internationals, both appearing at the 2019 U-17 World Cup for the U.S. team that failed to get out of the group stage. Kayo was also called into Gregg Berhalter's January camp, which was capped by a friendly win over Costa Rica in which Llanez scored. Kayo did not appear in that match.
The two teens join the growing movement of young U.S. internationals with Bundesliga clubs, currently spearheaded by Giovanni Reyna (Dortmund), Weston McKennie (Schalke), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Josh Sargent (Wolfsburg) and Chris Richards (Bayern Munich).
Llanez will hope to break through with Wolfsburg's first team next season, after making the bench and training with the first team but not making his full debut for the club after the Bundesliga's restart. Wolfsburg finished seventh in the league and will play in the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Europa League. It's still alive in this season's edition, facing Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 16 and trailing 2-1 after the first leg. If it progresses, it'll play either Basel or Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarterfinals.