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Gyau completes loan to St. Pauli

Gyau (ISIphotos)

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The opportunity has presented itself for Joe Gyau to display his talents on the first-team level.

Gyau, one of the top midfield prospects in the U.S. pipeline, was loaned to 2. Bundesliga club St. Pauli for the 2012-13 season by Hoffenheim, a move that provides a chance for the speedy 19-year-old winger to receive consistent playing time. Gyau, who signed a three-year professional contract with Hoffenheim in April, faced an uphill battle for playing time with Hoffenheim's first team, and he joins a team that was on the cusp of playing for promotion to the Bundesliga last year but is off to a slow start in the second division.

Gyau made his debut for Hoffenheim in a German Cup match last year but never appeared for the first team in another match, instead starring for the club's reserve team, which plays in Germany's fourth division. He joins American prospects Alfredo Morales, John Anthony Brooks and Andrew Wooten in Germany's second tier.

What do you think of the move? Anticipating a big season from Gyau?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. “but could possibly be a major step to opening the door in Germany for more young American players if he excels like I suspect he might”

    “And, as I say, a good showing by Gyau could make him a trailblazer and open the door wide for good young American prospects”

    I’m very happy for Joe but you are going way, way overboard on this “trailblazing” stuff.

    German football is and has been for some time well versed on American players young, old and in between.

    Young and old Americans have been going over to Germany, the BL and lower, since at least the days of Paul Caliguri. Eric Wynalda, Brian McBride, Joe Max Moore, Claudio Reyna( first American to captain at European side , Wolfsburg at 24 years old), Conor Casey, Kenny Cooper Jr., Edson Buddle, Greg Berhalter, Sal Zizzo, and of course, our favorites Matt Taylor and Preston Zimmerman, among others.

    And mind you these were guys I thought of just off the top of my head. There is a bunch I have missed.

    I did not include the plethora of German -Americans recent and past ( Tom Dooley and others) since they don’t exactly count in this case but then they sort of do.

    And most of all, the real trailblazer was signed by Bayer Leverkusen. They signed Donovan to a six year deal when he was 17-18, younger than Gyau, I think.

    What Gyau is doing very far from unprecedented and saying he is a trailblazer shows a lack of respect to his many predecessors.

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  2. False, MLS and B.2 are the same level, ASK THORSTEN FRINGES who said the same thing. You have MLS teams who have better training facilities then in germany lower levels. As far as growing a player, I think Cameroon, can tell how MLS has help his game, before the move to stoke. Americans need to play MLS first, because like Jurgen said, many really are not ready to compete in Europe.

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  3. I hope this works for this 19 year old. St. Pauli is usually a good place to play, with an active fan base.

    A few people posting on SBI think very highly of Gyau (right Imparative Voice!). Lets hope this is a good move.

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  4. Gyau mostly has little muscle strain stuff like Gatt, probably not surprising for two guys who are so blazing fast. Renken, who joined Hoffenheim with Gyau but is now with Portland, is the one who kept having serious knee injuries…

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  5. I remember watching him when he was 15 and he blew me away. Best of luck and I hope it works out. The kid needs to stay injury free.

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  6. Great to see this happen. The other guy that St. Pauli brought in to take a look at for a possible transfer was not deemed good enough and was sent back to Greece today. This is not only going to be a great experience for Joe’s development, but could possibly be a major step to opening the door in Germany for more young American players if he excels like I suspect he might. No offense to MLS, but the 2. Bundesliga in general is at a higher level than MLS and is a much better training ground for young players–not to mention an average pay scale that is many times more than MLS wages. And, as I say, a good showing by Gyau could make him a trailblazer and open the door wide for good young American prospects. I can see him becoming a fan fave at St. Pauli speeding down those wings. Hope he playes this weekend.

    In case people want to follow Gyau and see how the local press covers him, the Morgenpost tabloid gives a lot of coverage to St. Pauli and allows fans to comment at the bottom of news stories. There will probably be news story on Gyau later today or Friday, with fan comments. They also rate players after each game. Here is the link, with a St Pauli link at the top of the page under “Sport”:

    http://www.mopo.de

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  7. I’ll drink a St. Pauli beer tonight in honor of this news.

    This could be just as big as Terrence Boyd going to play for Rapid Vienna. Boyd has all the tools to be a future star for the USMNT and there is nothing but upside to this move. Cheers!

    Reply

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