USMNT Summer Transfer Grades, With a World Cup Lens

A number of U.S. players with World Cup aspirations have changed their club environments this summer. Who stands to benefit the most?

The January transfer window seemed quite hectic from a U.S. international perspective, but six months later, it pales in comparison to this summer’s shakeup. With the 2022 World Cup beckoning and each player trying to position himself for both a place on the U.S. roster and a better club future, the stakes are high, and the moves are plentiful.

Some of the biggest transfer bombs to drop haven’t yet—and may not at all—before the Sept. 1 deadline. As of now, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest are staying put at Chelsea, Juventus and Barcelona, respectively. John Brooks, whose status within the U.S. program has been a hot-button topic for months, remains a free agent and will land elsewhere eventually (and if it’s up to Gregg Berhalter, based on his comments made to ESPN last week, it’ll be at a club that employs a high press so he can operate in a similar system for both club and country). Others on the periphery of the national team’s core, like Gianluca Busio and Matthew Hoppe, could also be on the go, a year after helping the U.S. lift the Concacaf Gold Cup.

All in all, there have been a slew of Americans who have been on the move this summer who both have and haven’t been part of the national-team picture recently, and to grade those transfers or loans through the lens of how it impacts their World Cup prospects, there needs to be a cap on who precisely makes the cut. For the purposes of identifying players as those in the running for a World Cup spot, let’s arbitrarily set that cutoff as players who were part of a U.S. team during a competitive window over the last year. Among those who have moved so far this summer and meet that criteria, at least half should be considered locks for a November ticket to Qatar:

From left, Pefok, Steffen and Adams are among the U.S. players who have found new clubs :: Imago Images (2)/Getty Images (1)

Brenden Aaronson

Salzburg to Leeds United (full transfer, reported $29.5 million fee)

Aaronson reunites with Jesse Marsch by heading to the Premier League after impressing and accomplishing all he pretty much could in the Austrian Bundesliga. There’s going to be an adjustment period given the leap in competition, but Marsch doesn’t seem too concerned about it.

“When he first came to Salzburg, the first training session I thought, ‘Poof, he’s in over his head here, he’s going to have to adjust to the level of what is happening.’ And within two weeks he was almost our best player,” Marsch said last week. “That’s the quality he has. Because of his intelligence, because of his desire, because of his hard work he’s able to apply his talents rather quickly and adapt and grow. We’ll need that again. He’s going to be an important player for us this year.”

That’s a lofty assessment from the manager once again in charge of his playing time. And with Raphinha off to Barcelona, there’s a need for productivity from the wings. It seems like Aaronson will get every opportunity to shine, making this an ideal landing spot for him.

Grade: A

Tyler Adams

Leipzig to Leeds United (full transfer, reported $24 million fee)

Another Marsch disciple is back with the manager, as Adams left Leipzig to reunite with his former coach from MLS and the Bundesliga in the Premier League. The familiarity helps, and Adams’s dogged style of play and relentless work rate should be assets in his new surroundings. The pressure for him to come in and be part of the solution to replace Man City signing Kalvin Phillips is high, but like with Aaronson, it’s hard not to see how this isn’t the ideal landing spot for him. It’s a new league and likely a level up on weekly competition, but he’ll have the support that other U.S. players may not be afforded in different circumstances. 

Grade: A

Luca de la Torre

Heracles to Celta Vigo (full transfer, reported $2 million fee)

This could wind up being a steal for the Spanish club, which shares sporting personnel with PSG (advisor Luís Campos). With it comes the great unknown of playing time, though. de la Torre was a shoo-in for minutes at Heracles (69 appearances, 62 starts total in the last two seasons), and while staying at a relegated club wasn’t a practical option, completely changing up his surroundings after seemingly cementing his place with the U.S. “A Group” carries a moderate risk, especially with a short runway to Qatar. De la Torre won’t be afforded the luxury of a slow transition period, and he will need to win a starting job outright to maintain his current grip on a World Cup ticket. 

Grade: B+

Zack Steffen

Manchester City to Middlesbrough (loan)

Something needed to happen here. If he had stayed put, Steffen was going to back up Ederson for another season in Manchester. After just five competitive appearances altogether last season, the potential U.S. starter in Qatar sorely required a place to play. Enter Boro, which appears to be thrilled to have him. Manager Chris Wilder called it “a big coup for us,” while addressing the more pressing picture by adding, “Everyone knows his situation, he needed to play because of the World Cup. He had an agreement with Man City, but he could have easily stayed there and sat comfortably as their number two. He wanted to go out and he’s agreed to come here.”

The move comes at the cost of a step down in competition, but it’s significantly better than not playing at all.

Grade: A-

Turner left the New England Revolution for a new opportunity in England :: Sportfoto Zink/Wolfgang Zink/Imago Images

Matt Turner

New England Revolution to Arsenal (full transfer, reported $7.5 million fee)

It’s hard to look harshly at this, because Turner’s rags-to-riches-type story is incredible. From undrafted out of Fairfield to signing at the Emirates, Turner’s rise is deserving of admiration. But will he ever play? He claims he’s not going to England just to collect a fat check, but barring an injury to Aaron Ramsdale, he’s almost certainly going to be a backup for Arsenal. 

Then again, being a backup in the Premier League hasn’t been a hindrance when it comes to joining the national team during this World Cup cycle, and as Turner has rightly pointed out, he wasn’t even guaranteed a No. 1 role with the U.S. by being a regular starter and arguably the best goalkeeper in MLS. So he’s bettering his club career résumé and taking a minor international career gamble. It shouldn’t cost him a roster spot in Qatar, but it could keep him out of the conversation to start.

Grade: B-

Ethan Horvath

Nottingham Forest to Luton Town (loan)

Like Steffen, Horvath wasn’t going to be starting for his Premier League club. Forest brought in Dean Henderson on loan from Manchester United to replace outgoing starter Brice Samba, and the writing was on the wall. So, like Steffen, he goes a step down to the Championship in search of regular minutes. Unlike Steffen, though, he’s less of a sure thing to start regularly. Matt Macey was brought in from Hibernian, and last week he claimed, “It was made clear before I came to the club and when I’ve come to the club, [the competition to be starting goalkeeper is] going to be a battle.”

If Horvath can win that battle, then he stands a solid shot at going as what would likely be the U.S.’s No. 3 goalkeeper, as Steffen and Turner seem to have separation from the rest of the pack. If he can’t, then the door opens for another goalkeeper to claim a seat on the plane. 

Grade: B-

Chris Richards

Bayern Munich to Crystal Palace (full transfer, reported $15 million fee)

If, after 18 months on loan at Hoffenheim and no starting role at his parent club imminent, the need to leave wasn’t apparent for Richards, then Bayern going out and signing Matthijs de Ligt to fortify its center back position most certainly did the trick. Richards has benefitted from his time with the Bundesliga powerhouse, but regular playing time wasn’t going to be happening in Munich. 

Parlaying his development into a Premier League move is quite intriguing, and being highly rated by his new manager, French great Patrick Vieira, is as well (Vieira has spoken openly about Richards and the “strong statement” his signing is for the club). As with everyone else, this comes with the caveat of whether he can secure a regular role off the bat. But with Miles Robinson out for the World Cup after tearing his Achilles, there’s a starting role in Qatar ready to be taken, and Richards stands as good a chance as anyone of claiming it, provided he can stay healthy—which was not the case from January through the end of last season. 

Grade: B+

Cameron Carter-Vickers

Tottenham to Celtic (full transfer, reported $7 million fee)

Carter-Vickers has an uphill battle to carve out a place on the World Cup unit, but ending his nomadic ways on loan and finding a permanent home at a Champions League-caliber club is a giant step in the right direction. CCV started in all 45 of his appearances for Celtic last season across all competitions and earned his return trip to Glasgow. Now it’s about retaining that spot and showing even more to climb a center back depth chart that is anything but settled.

Grade: B+

Tillman fights Tottenham’s Richarlison for the ball in a preseason friendly :: Steve Welsh/PA Images/Imago Images

Malik Tillman

Bayern Munich to Rangers (loan)

Tillman, 20, is all potential at this point given the lack of first-team run in his career. After changing his international allegiance from Germany to the U.S., the Bayern product and versatile attacking player has left the Allianz Arena cauldron for what should be a more streamlined setup to perform. With club stalwart Joe Aribo off to Southampton, manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst envisions Tillman sliding into a central midfield role. 

“We lost Joe Aribo. We want to have the same squad as last year so with Malik arriving we have it looking as it should be,” van Bronckhorst said upon Tillman’s signing. “He is a midfielder with a lot of good passing, good movement and can score goals. He is quite physical so he will give us a lot of strength in there. ... Of course when we knew of the interest in Joe we moved quickly to Malik.”

Tillman got 20 minutes off the bench in a preseason friendly vs. Tottenham this weekend and comes highly regarded, but after not overwhelmingly wowing in the U.S.’s June camp and with the tight timetable that exists between now and Qatar, it would take something special and immediate in Glasgow for Tillman to rise rapidly enough to make the U.S.’s final 26-man squad.

Grade: B

Jordan Pefok

Young Boys to Union Berlin (full transfer, reported $6 million fee)

After winning the golden boot in the Swiss top flight, Pefok is off to the Bundesliga, where the competition will be greater, but the likelihood of maintaining his scoring form should diminish. You can’t fault the move, and if the goal binge does continue in a league where other U.S. forwards such as Ricardo Pepi and Josh Sargent have struggled, then Pefok could work his way back into the U.S. mix quite quickly. 

He got off to an O.K. start with a goal vs. Nottingham Forest in a preseason friendly, although he also missed a great opportunity for a second, and it’s his inability to be consistently clinical—the shank vs. Mexico at Estadio Azteca in March was particularly scarring—that has left him with work to do to carve out a more permanent role with the U.S. despite its clear need for a starting striker.

Grade: B+

Haji Wright

SønderjyskE to Antalyaspor (full transfer, reported $2 million fee)

Wright went to Turkey on loan last year and thrived, so it’s easy to see how a return to the same club would work to the striker’s benefit. He ended last season on fire, with nine goals in his last 10 games, to give him 14 in the Süper Lig in total, and he scored another one in preseason over the weekend. Whether he can do enough at the club level to overcome what was a subpar showing by Berhalter’s estimation—albeit in limited minutes—in the U.S.’s June camp remains to be seen, but for a 24-year-old player whose club career so far has been marred by instability, this move should offer a fruitful way forward.

Grade: A-

Shaq Moore

Tenerife to Nashville SC (full transfer, reported $2 million fee)

Moore has had his moments with the U.S. over the last year, but he also plays at a pretty stacked position and offers limited versatility that could work to his favor. Unless injury or the unknown claims Sergiño Dest, DeAndre Yedlin, Reggie Cannon and perhaps even Joe Scally, it’s hard to see Moore climbing the depth chart fast enough to snatch a place on the World Cup squad. Coming to MLS will offer him greater visibility, though, and teaming with World Cup lock Walker Zimmerman is another benefit for the Georgia native. As long as Nashville doesn’t fall out of the playoff picture—which would result in a layoff of six weeks between MLS Decision Day and the start of the World Cup—Moore can help himself, but the question is if it’ll be enough.

Grade: B

Nicholas Gioacchini

Caen to Orlando City (full transfer, no fee)

Gioacchini has fallen far off the U.S. radar after showing flashes of potential last summer, failing to appear in a single World Cup qualifier following his participation as the U.S. won the Gold Cup. Perhaps a run of goals and assists in Orlando—and a dearth of them from his counterparts—would vault him back into the conversation, and at 22 (as of Monday), there’s still a long-term picture to consider for a talented attacking player. But coming off a season in which he didn’t score once on loan for Montpellier’s first team, and as it relates to the upcoming World Cup, it’s hard to see this being the move that makes a substantial difference in his immediate national-team prospects.

Grade: C