Ethan Horvath enjoyed some memorable times at Norwegian side Molde in the early stages of his career and now the American goalkeeper could reportedly be on his way back.
Molde is linked with re-acquiring Horvath this summer as a free agent signing, Sporten reported. Horvath’s contract with Belgian winners Club Brugge expires on Wednesday and Molde is among the suitors aiming to sign him in the coming weeks.
Horvath spent four-and-a-half seasons at Molde from 2013-17, making 56 combined appearances for the club and winning one Eliteserien title and one Norwegian Cup in 2014. The U.S. Men’s National Team goalkeeper played under current Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during his time there.
The Colorado native moved to Club Brugge in the January 2017 and made 64 appearances for the club, with 10 of those coming in European Tournaments. Horvath lifted three Belgian Pro League titles during his time at Club Brugge, but saw his playing time drop following the arrival of Simon Mignolet in 2019.
Horvath played the hero for the USMNT in the inaugural Concacaf Nations League Final earlier this June, making a late penalty kick save on Mexico’s Andres Guardado in a 3-2 extra time victory.
Here are some more news and notes on the Americans Abroad front:
Hoppe’s Schalke future in question
Matthew Hoppe suffered Bundesliga relegation with Schalke last season and reportedly could be on the way out of the club if the right offer comes in.
Schalke has suffered disagreement between the front office and coaching staff about the development potential of Hoppe, Liga2-Online reported Monday. Hoppe’s contract runs until June 2023, but could be sold if the right valuation comes in from an interested buyer.
The 19-year-old Hoppe scored six goals in his debut Bundesliga season in 2020-21, with five of those coming in a two-and-a-half week span from January 9-20. Hoppe also found the back of the net in a 4-3 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on May 15th, but eventually suffered relegation for the first time in his short professional career.
Hoppe finished his debut season with 22 appearances for the Gelsenkirchen-based club, adding one assist to go along with his six goals scored. He was included for the U.S. Men’s National Team’s May 30th friendly at Switzerland, but did not dress for Gregg Berhalter’s side.
Hoppe was named to the USMNT’s Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary roster for this summer’s tournament, and could make his senior debut if named to the final 23-player roster.
Schalke begins the 2. Bundesliga season on August 1 at Holstein Kiel.
Several clubs interested in adding Sebastian Soto on loan
Sebastian Soto has yet to play a minute for English Premier League club Norwich City and could be heading out on a new loan spell to earn minutes.
Soto is garnering plenty of suitors for a loan this fall, Pink UN reported on Sunday. The USMNT prospect did not feature for the Canaries in the EFL Championship due to a visa issue and now might have to wait even longer to do so.
After arriving in England from German club Hannover in January 2021, Soto was loaned to Dutch second tier side Telstar for the rest of the season. The 20-year-old scored seven goals for Telstar in 12 appearances before returning to Norwich City to play with the Under-23 team.
Soto made three appearances for Norwich City’s U-23 side before seeing his season end early ahead of the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Mexico. He played in all four matches for Jason Kreis’ side in Mexico, but failed to score in any of his appearances as the Americans lost 2-1 to Honduras in the semifinals.
With Teemu Pukki, Jordan Hugill, and Emi Buendia among the offensive options at Carrow Road, Soto’s chances will be slim to get into the first team squad this season.
Matthew Olosunde has offer from Preston North End
Matthew Olosunde has two English clubs looking to sign him this summer and one has reportedly taken put a contract on the table.
Preston North End has offered Olosunde a contract, edging in front of Sheffield Wednesday for him, the Lancashire Post reported Monday. Olosunde visited the Luxton Training Ground last week and has a decision to make in the coming days, according to the report.
Olosunde made the move to Rotherham United in 2019 following his release from Manchester United and went on to make 72 combined appearances for the Millers. The New Jersey native scored against Everton in FA Cup play this past season, but saw his playing time decrease as the club fought for league safety.
The 23-year-old has earned one cap for the U.S. Men’s National Team, appearing in a 3-0 friendly win over Bolivia in 2018. Should Olosunde sign for Preston North End, the club would have to pay compensation to Rotherham United since the Millers saw their contract offer rejected by Olosunde.
Preston North End finished 13th in the EFL Championship last season while Sheffield Wednesday suffered relegation alongside Rotherham United to League One.
isn’t Molde in the Europa cup this coming soccer season? I may be incorrect but if true, then at least he will be playing there which is much better than MLS
They are in qualifying for the Conference League (which is the new third level competition). They have to win a couple qualifying rounds to make the tournament. They could draw Spurs or Roma in the tournament but they’ll more likely play teams from lower leagues like Hungary, Romania, or Cyprus.
soto should be like the poster boy for don’t sign in england without the permit met. loan hell in one place to loan hell in another. was no one in first division holland interested? why do we flee successful club/league situations? did no one watch jozy’s career?
Well he did earn his permit and play with their U23s so it seems his problem is he didn’t have enough quality for the Championship or Premier League. If he couldn’t make the squad in the Championship why would an Eredivisie team be after him?
the people like take risks take risks to horvath are missing he was in the pecking order while at molde and then slipped out while at brugge and if he wants NT then his best bet is low risk and assured starting. it would be silly to repeat his mistake just because he “deserves better.” same eyes bigger than stomach issue.
that being said ole gunnar is long gone from molde so it would likely be a different soccer experience. MLS at midseason the risk would be only so many teams are shopping, most of them probably bad defenses, and do we still do discovery claims? to me MLS is better to sign at in the winter (or pre-sign for the summer) when teams have a bunch of cap space and you can pick and choose more. so i’d think third tier europe and if you weren’t comfortable of your role at the offers then just sign at molde.
Horvath is not on the allocation list as of January but I would imagine he is on someone’s discovery list. As far as I know those lists are not released to the public. I would think given his performance with NT this Summer MLS will add him to the allocation list whenever that is updated. It usually isn’t too hard to trade for someone on another teams list usually just some allocation money.
though things are already being announced — and it doesn’t apply to out of contract — technically we’re not yet in the second transfer window. so maybe then.
Discovery and allocation still apply to players entering the league. If he is interested in returning to MLS he could sign and announce at anytime because he is out of contract, he just wouldn’t be able to play until the next window. I haven’t seen any rumors of him wanting to come to MLS though.
I would have thought that after the performance he had in Nations League offers from better clubs than Molde would have been pouring in! Molde is definitely as step backwards if he were to go that route, but like others here have stated, consistent game time is better than going to a bigger club only to sit the bench like he has over the last 2 seasons at Brugge
horvath should go to city so steffan can be his backup
If Molde is the only option for Horvath IMO why not go to MLS? MLS arguably a more competitive league at this point with a great opportunity to be snatched up by a club in bigger league. Scandinavian leagues may be good experience / stepping stone for some players looking to go overseas / Europe when they’re not getting PT in MLS or bigger EU league. Going back to Molde seems like a digression for him.
Loan for Soto is very much needed. However, Emi Buendia transferred from Norwich to Villa weeks ago
That article also seems to think Hoppe is 22.
I’m guessing fans are going to be pretty disappointed if Ethan goes back to Molde.
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Cappis started for Brondby in their preseason friendly. Way to early to read much into it. Their Champions League playoff series begins in early August.
I am a fan of Horvath and think, skill wise, he’s equal to Steffen. I wouldn’t be disappointed if he returns to Molde, but I won’t be excited either as I believe he’s better than that league…and I’d be surprised if no-one else comes knocking.
That said the most important thing for Horvath is to be playing games. He & Zack both are at a point where getting game minutes is essential…especially with the WC around the corner. One (preferably both) need the in-game experience to help direct a very young USMNT Defense.
I agree that Horvath seems better than the Norwegian league. You would think his agent might be able to get something like Holland or maybe Denmark. Even Denmark would be a step up from Norway, IMO.As for MLS, MLS doesn’t seem to pay much usually for keepers. He’ll probably make more in Europe.