Since U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Michael Bradley left AS Roma, there has been a noticeable absence of Americans playing abroad in Italy.
That is not the case any longer.
According to Goal USA, U.S. Under-20 forward Joshua Perez has signed a multi-year contract with Serie A club Fiorentina. Perez had been linked with the club for an extended period of time, but could not sign until his 18th birthday.
The 18-year-old forward appeared in all three group games for the Americans during the U-17 World Cup in 2015, starting against Nigeria in the team’s opening game of the competition. He totaled 179 minutes but scored no goals.
What do you think of Perez signing with Fiorentina? What are you expecting from him in 2016 and beyond?
Share your thoughts below.
Re Rossi: What’s more #Murican than selling out for the money?
Giuseppe Rossi, good luck getting another minute in the Azzurri kit. You are dead to me.
Huh? What kind of PATHETIC human being would wish ill will on someone else because they choose to play for another team. Anyway, according to Christian Vieri on Bein Sports last week, Rossi is the best forward in the Azzuri pool when healthy.
Great. Since he’s never healthy that doesn’t mean much. I don’t want him to get injured or anything. I hope he’s 100% healthy and performs poorly.
Obviously Klinsmann should be fired immediately.
Fiorentina > Seattle
“Since U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Michael Bradley left AS Roma, there has been a noticeable absence of Americans playing abroad in Italy.”
you mean since giuseppi rossi left fiorentina last month. fiorentinamerica!
he’s Italian not American. He made his choice…..
no, he’s definitely american.
Well, I’m sure Rossi disagrees with you, Nate.
“He made his choice….”
**Insert Lightning Bolt strikes**
Slow, I am pretty sure Rossi disagrees with you based upon his twitter feed (which I follow). Why is it so hard for some dual nationals, like myself, love both countries. He chooses to play for Italy because he probably grew up in an environment where that was the goal, but I am sure he he would also call himself an American.
PS – Just like you to deny someone who is clearly an American citizen – who was born here, spent half his life here, and spends his summers in Jersey (Rossi). Yet you will accept someone who, while spending 14 years of his life here (like Rossi), NEVER became a US citizen and chooses to play for Uruguay – Diego Fagundez.
Dude was born and grew up here. 100% should have played for the USMNT. Instead he thought it would be more glorious (and lucrative) to play for Italy. Well I’m sure turning out for them in zero world cups has been great.
LoL Nonsense.
Last I checked… “Daaad-gummitt….yer with us, er ‘gaiiinst us” was never ratified.
He didn’t renounce his citizenship. He’s a born, bred, stated proud N.J.ian U.S. Citizen playing abroad….. which seems to rather fit the criteria for “Americans Abroad” Now, if it were “Americans, but only those who chose to play for the USMNT in the International game abroad” you’d have a point.
Not really. For the purposes of international soccer, he’s not American. Of course he’s an American because he was born and raised here. But instead, he chose to chase glory for another country so from a soccer perspective I couldn’t care less what he does.
great news!
SBI’s tweet says he’s on the “books” of the first team. What does that mean exactly?
Ives GalarcepVerified account @SoccerByIves 51m51 minutes ago Hermosa Beach, CA
Ives Galarcep Retweeted
Another young American on 1st team books in a top league. Josh Perez has finalized his long-awaited Fiorentina move: https://twitter.com/goalusa/status/695305601052704768 …
it means he didn’t get signed to the reserve squad. that does not mean he won’t play with the B team, but he is on the first team roster as opposed to a contract specifying he is on the B team.
serie a teams do not have b/ reserve teams. they have primavera teams. the primavera is the last level of the youth set up (for players who are between 15 and 19 at the beginning of the season). i would interpret the tweet as, he will not be in the youth set up and will train/play with the 1st squad. what will be interesting to see is if fiorentina loans him out in the next window. the general trend in italy is to have their younger players cut their teeth in the serie b for a bit before bringing them in the fold. either way, it’s exciting to have another american on the peninsula. i wish him the best!
ok, so you basically just said what i said but with semantics.
Think 40 man roster in baseball
I know he bounced around a lot during his years there but it’s great to hear they value him as a player for their club.
He bounced around since he was 15 or 16 because Fiorentina REALLY wanted him badly, but he didn’t have that EU passport. Same situation as Haji Wright and Schalke.
The difference is Haji decided to sign and play with Cosmos until his 18th; Perez decided to stay unaffiliated, and train as much as he was allowed to with Fiorentina.
We’ll see which was a better decision for these players.
PS Its freaking crazy what kind of opportunities are offered/denied to you just because you or your family were born on the other side of a line on a map.
That is a deep, “rage against the machine” style comment.
@ DjDj
It beats combing Top Drawer Soccer for info
179 min and no goals? As a forward?
Yeah, kid played the equivalent of two games and didn’t score a goal. Hopeless – he should probably retire already. I’ve never heard of a striker going two games without a goal.
He’s an attacking winger. Not the same as a target forward, poacher, or off-the-shoulder-striker. He also wasn’t deployed in his favored RW spot at the WC, where he plays as an inverted winger, cutting inside and using his favored left-foot. The guy has a great shot, with a beautiful curve. Richie kept him mainly on the left, even played him central instead of the right hand side (another indictment of just how conservative Richie’s tactics are).
Seriously this kid is special. Pulisic is getting a lot of attention (rightfully so). But Perez has just as much ability on the ball as Pulisic, as well as vision and passing ability. He may even be a little more creative than Pulisic.
The future is getting exciting. Now we just need a striker to emerge with the kind of ceiling these kids have…
Thanks for that informative bit there Mac.
He scored 4 goals in the qualifying tournament. Forced out of position a little bit by the development of Pulisic and the poor managing of Williams during U17 WC.
sounds a lot like Rooney
The Americans Abroad section has another name to add. It’s good to see so many young US players being signed to big leagues. Not all will work out, of course, but it does show signs of progress I think.