Sebastian Soto’s current contract with German 2. Bundesliga side Hannover is set to expire this summer, but the young forward has reportedly already found himself a new club.
After being previously linked with fellow German side Freiburg as well as clubs from MLS, Soto looks to be taking his talents to England. Soto has passed a medical and signed a contract with Norwich City, according to German outlet Bild. He will officially join the club once his Hannover contract expires in June.
Hannover will receive roughly $200,000 from Norwich City to start until a full transfer free is decided.
The 19-year-old’s new deal with the Canaries will run until June 2023, however due to not having an England work permit he will likely head back out on an immediate loan elsewhere. Soto’s agent Rob Moore has been in discussions with teams from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, according to the report.
Soto made the move to Germany from Real Salt Lake’s Academy in July 2018 and quickly moved up the ranks. Beginning with Hannover’s Under-19 side, Soto exploded for 17 goals and six assists in 24 matches, earning him promotion to the Under-23 side in the same season.
However, Soto failed to find the back of the net in eight combined appearances between Hannover’s first and second teams, which included a trio of Bundesliga cameos in 2019.
A current U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team product, Soto scored four goals in five appearances in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, helping the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team to a third-consecutive quarterfinals appearance.
He’s also scored once in two appearances for the Under-23 team and was expected to be included in Jason Kreis’ Olympic Qualifying roster prior to the postponement of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The USMNT was slated to play both Wales and the Netherlands in a pair of March friendlies earlier this year, an opportunity for head coach Gregg Berhalter to see the young talent for the first time. However, the friendlies were postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and were not rescheduled.
Soto’s move to England would be the latest since Christian Pulisic’s move from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund to EPL giants Chelsea.
Why is there a transfer fee if his contract is expiring?
Speaking of American attacking players in England, if League One went directly to playoffs wouldn’t that mean Sunderland would again miss out on promotion? Gooch has to move if he ever wants a shot at the NT.
Gooch doesn’t seem to have any desire to move up and compete with better competition. Or worse: he’s not actually good enough to play in a higher league.
He’d be the same age as Holmes when he made the jump to the Championship. Gooch has better League One stats than Duane did. He’s been very loyal to his club that he started training with at age 10, but it’s time to move even if that’s to MLS.
“A current U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team product”
What does that mean? Players aren’t products of their national teams.
Strange move given he’s not eligible and Norwich are almost assuredly going down this season. Like EPB why sign somewhere you know you can’t play, find somewhere that fits your style where you’ll play and then get a transfer when you qualify for England.
it’s probably a financial decision, in some cases.
guaranteed wage contracts with EPL clubs are difficult to resist- even with clubs that ferry between EPL and Championship.
have to agree here. Find a club that you will play at first and foremost. The premier league will be calling if you’re developing and scoring goals. He’s forced to go on an indefinite loan and Norwich looks to be going down. Seems an odd choice during such an important developmental period
His level right now is the Championship anyways! Considering he’ll be loaned out the entirety of next season to help him qualify for a UK permit, coupled with the feeling that Norwich will be back in the Prem after next season, this could work out perfectly!
I appreciate the optimism but Norwich took three seasons to be promoted after falling out in 2016 and Soto will have to really excel next year to get a work permit if they do. It’s strange from a Norwich perspective too because they aren’t a loan army club either and none of their players currently on loan are with a first division club except one guy in Scotland. If you look at his agents list of clients on transfermkt they are all small time guys mostly from Africa playing for small clubs. Wanyama is their biggest client and he’s past his prime, can’t tell how long they’ve had him as a client. Hopefully it all works out.
Man City bought guys like Mix and Steffen to loan them out and sell them for a profit. It’s a very smart way to make some money on guys. That’s what Norwich will do if Soto never gets his UK permit.
Norwich has not done that in the past though. Also being a perennial relegation/promotion club Norwich doesn’t have the cash to just buy players to loan and sell years later. Their owned by a celebrity chef and a writer not a Sheik. They must believe they can get him a work permit somehow.