Caleb Stanko’s European spell may be coming to an end.
According to Goal, the defensive midfielder is set to join new MLS side FC Cincinnati for an undisclosed fee. Cincinnati claimed Stanko via the MLS discovery process and is close to finalizing a deal for him.
The 25-year-old joined Bundesliga club Freiburg back in 2011 and spent six seasons with the club’s reserve team. He made his first-team debut in 2015 when Freiburg was playing in Germany’s second-tier and also saw a loan to FC Vaduz during 2016-17.
As Freiburg earned promotion back to the Bundesliga, Stanko made six appearances in 2017-18 despite dealing with knee problems. He has fully recovered from injury and recently played in a Jan. 12th friendly against fellow Bundesliga outfit, Mainz.
His lone cap with the U.S. Men’s National Team came in 2016. Stanko also captained the U.S. U-20 MNT at the 2013 U-20 World Cup which featured DeAndre Yedlin, Zack Steffen, Kellyn Acosta, and Wil Trapp.
Stanko’s arrival would continue a busy offseason for FCC who has already acquired Greg Garza, Kendall Waston, Alvas Powell, Allan Cruz, and Victor Ulloa.
FCC opens their inaugural MLS campaign on March 3rd at Seattle.
Knee problems and going to play for a team with an artificial turf surface seems like a winning proposition.
Glad Stanko is getting a move. He lost momentum in the Bundesliga.I hope he gets in form and gets more nats call ups
He may be the next Fafa Picault, played BLII but never made a lasting impression, he came to MLS and become one of the better and fastest wingers in the league.
Nice….FC Cincinnati are stacking up. I hope he is something special as MLS, even though is not a top league in the world, HAS A WAY OF EXPOSING PLAYERS for what they really are. Something to really look forward to this coming season.
This could actually be a good move for him. His injuries sidelined him in Germany but if he’s fully recovered this could be his chance to reboot his career.
Before the injuries he was rated higher than Trapp, so if he is recovered he should be able to secure consistent playing time and provide some level of bite in the center of the park for the expansion side. May even have a shot at the USMNT “B” team after getting some fitness and confidence back.
Don’t forget the also have Fanendo Adi, Fatai Alashe, and Darren Mattocks. They may not be good, but they should be better than Minnesota.