American forward Haji Wright has been with Schalke for less than a year, but he’s seemingly left a lasting impression on the coaches.
Schalke coach Markus Weinzierl revealed that Wright will travel with the first team to Spain as the club begins its winter camp before the Bundesliga resumes on Jan. 20.
#Weinzierl: @HajiWright from the @knappenschmiede has a lot of potential. He's coming to Spain. We want to take a look at him. #S04
— FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) January 4, 2017
The camp is eight days long as Schalke warms up for the second half of the Bundesliga campaign. Its first league match of 2017 is on Jan. 21 against Alfredo Morales’ Ingolstadt.
Wright, 18, has been a consistent starter this season for Schalke’s under-19 team. The striker has scored six goals in 13 games this campaign and a combined nine goals in 17 appearances since he arrived last April.
Looks like the young blood is on the right track? WTG youngin’
With Shalke firmly entrenched mid table would not be shocked to see him get some first team minutes sprinkled through the remainder of the season. Would be nice to see him get those spot starts and substitute minutes.
If we use his teammate (Pulisic) as a sample then it looks normal.
In February 2015, Borussia Dortmund signed 16-year-old Pulisic and assigned him first to their U17 squad and in Summer 2015 to the U19. After scoring 10 and assisting 8 in just 15 games with the Dortmund youth teams,[14] Pulisic was called to join the first team over winter break.
Why hasn’t he been playing for Schalke’s U23 team? Like Matt Olosunde is doing with ManU.
Olosunde was signed for the U19 and quickly was moved up to the U23. The problem with him is since moving up they had him playing all over the field, not his customary LB position.
Olosunde plays RB for USA not LB.
No idea but some clubs don’t have U-23 teams and just U-19 teams or vice versa?
Schalke does have a U23 team. They call it Schalke 04 II
Germany doesn’t seem to put as much emphasis on its U23 since it also includes semi-pro squads. In England the U23 teams are all reserve squads from the top divisions so I think the competition is better. Remember CP and Passlack both played U19 games for BvB in between their Bundesliga matches but never played for Dortmund II. Mckinze Gaines is with Wolfsburg and has played primarily with the U19s with an appearance or two with the U23s in Euro Cup play and playing in a friendly with the first team. I believe he will be with them in camp in Florida next week, but I don’t know if they’ve made any official announcement.
That would be great if it comes true. Thanks.
He will be with the combined U19 and U23s in Florida, I guess the main squad is in Spain this week. Most of the others on the roster seem to be from the U23s. I guess the Top Drawer article I read was before the final rosters were determined. They will play Tampa Bay Rowdies and Bahia (Brazil) it looks like they will play the first teams of those two squads. If you have ESPNDeportes its looks like the matches will be televised. (Side note Freddy Adu has not signed with Tampa Bay’s now USL team does this mean the end of Freddy)
Different clubs have different development paths. Some have very structured upward movement (U19, U23, etc.). Some don’t. Pulisic never played with BvB II before being called up to the senior team. Nor did Passlack. I think a lot of the more recent German stars like Sane and Meyers also skipped the reserve squad.
I think a lot of Bundesliga clubs see their second teams purely for fringe players too old for youth team, and for potential late bloomers (of course, Green and his experience for Bayern II seems to counter this). Unlike EPL clubs, that seem to like that additional step (probably because their first team squads are so inflated, and they have like 2 or 3 players in reserve for every position)
Let’s hope he can impress, it was this type of camp last year in which CP broke through in BD I believe. If a few more of these young Americans can break through in Europe our national team will have a bright future.