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Report: U.S. U-17 mid Pulisic to sign with Dortmund

Pulisic-ISI

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By RYAN TOLMICH

With a pair of Americans already counted amongst the club’s ranks, it looks like another U.S. youth international is set to join the Borussia Dortmund system.

U.S. U-17 National Team forward Christian Pulisic is reportedly set to join fellow U.S. youth stars Joe Gyau and Junior Flores with the Bundesliga club.

The 15-year-old forward, who hails from Hershey, Pa. and has featured for local developmental side PA Classics, already possesses a European passport through his Croatian grandfather, which will allow the young American to sign with the German club at age 16.

Pulisic, who spent the school year in Bradenton, Fla. as part of the U-17 residency program, chose the German powerhouses over a slew of European clubs, including Barcelona, Chelsea and Porto.

“They saw him and we’re blessed, because I think Germany’s a great country to develop talent,” said Mark Pulisic, Christian’s father and coach with the PA Classics. “Everything’s so Americanized now and Germany’s definitely a country that I think he’ll feel comfortable in, both soccer-wise and as far as schooling goes. We want to learn German, but English is spoken by [almost] everyone there. It’s gonna be neat. I’m excited it fell into Germany.

“It’s a place he’s never really been and trained, so I think things kind of work out for a reason.”

What do you think of Pulisic’s move? How do you feel about Borussia Dortmund’s collection of American talent?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Wasn’t Dortmund the club that developed some machine to improve ball skills under pressure? You could do worse than playing for a CL quality organization.

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  2. I think this article is a bit misleading. He trained with those other teams but he didn’t necessarily have offers on the table from them that he turned down to go to BVB.

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  3. He scored again today as the U17 won in a shootout over Colombia after a 1-1 time at the end of extra time. They play Ecuador on Friday

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  4. great news, hopefully he’ll get a chance with BVB II in addition to their U-17 and U-19 teams. Flores did send out a tweet the other day that said something to the effect of having an important decision ahead. so idk if he is mulling a move elsewhere, but i hope he stays.

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    • That Flores tweet seems more likely to do with his National team future than with Dortmund.

      It’s no secret that El Salvador and his dad has been pressing him hard to play for them. And he could be in their senior team now instead of waiting for the USMNT.

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      • nah, he’s already publicly stated he wants to play for the US and has turned down ES. it has to be something else.

        “Born to El Salvadorian parents in Virginia, Flores’ success has been noted by the scandal-plagued El Salvadorian national team but he has elected to continue to play for the United States and will try to lead the U-20 team to the 2015 World Cup in New Zealand.”

        “Junior Flores is one of the best young players the United States has, but he is also of El Salvador descent and his parents’ homeland wanted to see him suit up for their national team. But he won’t.”

      • He just signed a contract with Dortmund. Why would it be concerning his club?

        Remember young peoples minds change all of the time

      • that’s true, good point. the contract he signed in 2012 just became active. i still doubt it’s about the US but now i’m stumped. guess we’ll see.

      • Its’ definitely concerning his club future, why would he be questioning his national team allegiance right now? There’s nothing to press him into a decision at this very moment.

      • How many times has El Salvador been to the WC? I can’t even remember the last time they made it to the Hex. Until he knows for sure he can’t make the US team, he would be a fool to declare for El Salvador early.

      • They made it in 1970 and 1982. In 1982, they suffered the heaviest WC finals defeat ever – 10-1 to Hungary. Can’t imagine why he’d choose them instead of the US, particularly since he was born and raised here.

  5. Watched this kid play a few times and he definitely stands out on the field. A special player with loads of technicality and vision for someone so young. Here’s hoping he keeps on progressing with Dortmund.

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  6. Good move by the kid. When looking at youth teams and academies/lower division teams, you have to consider the ultimate goal, which is breaking into the first-team. People might say, “he should have gone to Barcelona and La Masia.” Remember though, Barcelona is a buying club and will always be. It’s harder to break into a team like that, because they will always be stacked at every position. Dortmund is a selling club (among the heavy-weighs), so there theoretically should be an easier path there. Both offer the prospects of great development.

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  7. “It’s a place he’s never really been and trained, so I think things kind of work out for a reason.”

    Right, but…. Dortmund over La Masia? Unless he thinks there’s less anti-American bias in Germany, you just don’t say no to training with the best young players in the game.

    I’m also assuming Southampton wasn’t an option.

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    • I would assume having Americans on the book will help too. The kid probably has minimal Spanish, if any, and will have a hard time at age 15 talking with anyone from Porto or Barcelona. Having Americans around should help him fit in, more so than at a club without any Americans. Plus, I know Klopp can speak English pretty well and I bet the setup at Dortmund speaks better English than Barcelona or Porto.

      Chelsea just sucks.

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      • I think one of the head youth coaches is American?

        My understanding is that German clubs also take traditional education very seriously. That might play on his parents minds.

        One problem with Dortmund is a lot of their players seem to thrive there but not do so great elsewhere. Reus being the exception but he came into Dortmund amazing.

    • Barcelona has a fantastic youth development system, but it is a lot harder to break into Barcelona’s first team than to Dortmund’s. He may have taken it into consideration. Dortmund’s youth development system is excellent too. Mario Goetze and Marco Reus, for example, both attended Dortmund’s youth academy.

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    • I’m not saying they’re at Barca’s level but Dortmund isn’t some middling club, it’s one of the best clubs in Europe. Best of luck to him!

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