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Report: Sargent agrees to deal with Werder Bremen

Josh Sargent has caught plenty of eyes during his run with the U.S. Under-20 and Under-17 Men’s National Teams, and it appears the young forward has finally settled on a club to sign with when he turns 18.

According to Goal USA, Sargent has agreed in principle to sign with Bundesliga club Werder Bremen in a deal that will take effect on Sargent’s 18th birthday next February. Sargent is prevented from signing with a European team until he turns 18 per FIFA rules but can commit to a non-binding agreement.

The agreement, which was first reported by beIN Sports USA, comes in the wake of a highly successful run on the youth national team level. Sargent led the U.S. U-17s to a World Cup berth with five goals in qualifying before joining up with the U.S. U-20s at just 17 years old. The forward scored twice in Monday’s World Cup opener, a 3-3 draw with Ecuador.

Werder Bremen currently has Aron Johannsson counted among the club’s forward pool, but the American striker is expected to leave the club in search of more playing time. The club also courted Jordan Morris before the forward opted to sign with the Seattle Sounders while also signing U.S. U-19 midfielder Isaiah Young in January.

Sargent and the U.S. return to action on Thursday for a group stage match against Senegal.

Comments

  1. It’s great for a young American to sign with a bundesliga club but I wonder why this one having already had trials elsewhere. Any thoughts out there?

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    • Also strange timing, if he has a great tournament already scoring 2 in he first game you would think bigger teams would be trying to sign him

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      • As some above have said, this is all about development, and he simply must have made the decision that this is the best place for him to develop. Most likely two factors: Bremen has shown a commitment to him that he feels good about (makes sense given there overall investment in American players), and he probably feels like he will have a good shot to break into the first team within the next 1-2 years at Bremen, whereas a bigger club might have a more daunting stable of players to beat out or have resources to bring in a big name.

    • Its a remnant of Jurgen. Andi Herzog is a legend at Werder and is still funneling top talent in their direction.

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    • Also, there is the commitment from Werder to treat guys right. But the US players in the German league have shown Germans that they can trust Americans too… no such trust in Italy, Spain, England… just suspicion and a preference for Brazilians )spain) and argentines (italy)

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  2. Another reason to be glad that Fox Sports picked up the Bundesliga since there are now many more Americans there than in the EPL. Since Bremen finished up about mid-table, this should be a good fit. .

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    • I hope they don’t re up their NASCAR deal though, drives me nuts when they show Truck series qualifying over a Bundesliga match between top teams.

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  3. Crazy how Morris was going to sign with Werder but declined because of family, but we have Sargent who is going there and I am sure will do great.

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    • Not really so crazy that 2 completely different people with very distinct lives and circumstances would have careers that take on operate trajectories. To Jordan and Josh…. the best decision is- be you.

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      • Morris is a good player who, coming out of college @ 20/21, needed to go somewhere he could see 1st team minutes. He needed to be playing against men to challenge himself.
        Sargent @ 18 needs a coach & environment that will help him develop. He can challenge himself against U-23’s and work his way up to the 1st team over a year or 2 and still come out ahead of Morris in his development.

    • Two different mentalities of players, but Werder Bremen are getting the right player with the correct mentality. Just remains to be seen if they got the right player with the best ability.

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      • The “correct mentality” aka must play in Europe?

        We will see where Johannson ends up. Morris has one championship. As struggling won’t even begin to describe his sophomore year, Morris would be moving with Johannson.

      • One championship??? I have one Championship in high school, I have one with my club team,but none with my college team. Guess what experience speaks the most to me. A lot of athletes judge themselves by the highest level that they van compete.

      • Morris would have likely been placed with Bremen’s U23s which probably helped him choose Seattle. However, having to develop his game to earn minutes in a more competitive roster might have pushed him to work more on his left foot and thus made him better in the long run.

        Sargent will likely join one of Bremen’s youth squads in February as well.

      • We will see where Johannson ends up.

        You, me and everyone knows Johannson’s downfall is inability to stay healthy, not his lack of ability. His next departure and next destination is directly related to the former…not the latter.

        Morris has one championship

        Dear God with this.

      • This is an apples and orange comparison. Morris was going to receive more playing time in Seattle. Sargent is going to Werder to develop while Morris wanted to play. It’s also tough to fault a guy who wanted to play for his hometown club. Morris could jump to Europe in a couple of years and still have a full career in front of him. Who knows, Sargent may get homesick and return to Europe in a year for all we know right now.

      • Old School walk me through the “correct mentality” of Jozy vs. Defoe

        Just curious how you see it. Basically Defoe left and was replaced by Jozy A.

        I see it as Defoe left Toronto and just went 6-26 with a GD of -40 in a zero pressure situation.
        While Altidore is trying to go after a championship he came within inches of winning last year. He carries the team.

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