The January Transfer Window nears its close, but plenty of Americans have been on the move with several transfers happening in recent days.
Kevin Paredes was the first left-back from MLS to depart to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, but on deadline day a second defender was on the move from the Eastern Conference. Atlanta United left-back George Bello joined Arminia Bielefeld on a permanent transfer, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract
Bello, 20 was entering the last six months of his contract with the Five Stripes, giving the Eastern Conference club an incentive to cash-in on the former homegrown before he was able to leave on a free-transfer this summer.
Bielefeld sits in 14th place in the Bundesliga table and despite the addition of Bello, remains in the middle of a relegation battle.
Bello has earned six caps for the USMNT since debuting for Gregg Berhalter’s side in 2021.
Here is a closer look at all of the recent Americans Abroad news:
Auston Trusty secures move to Arsenal
Auston Trusty is the latest American to move to the Premier League following his transfer from the Colorado Rapids to Arsenal on Monday.
The Gunners announced the acquisition of Trusty, but have allowed him to remain with the Rapids on loan until June. The Philadelphia Union will also receive 30% of the transfer fee Arsenal paid for Trusty after previously trading him to Colorado in November 2019.
Trusty, 23, is coming off of a strong season with the Colorado Rapids where he played an integral role in their first place finish in the Western Conference. The five-year MLS veteran was called up to the USMNT’s squad in December, but did not feature in a 1-0 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Trusty is the third Colorado player who will be moving to Europe, joining Sam Vines and Cole Bassett in recent months.
Joel Sonora joins Velez Sarsfield on loan
Joel Sonora is on the move again in Argentina, this time being loaned to Velez Sarsfield for the entire 2022 calendar year.
Velez Sarsfield announced the loan signing on Tuesday, bringing the attacking midfielder to the club after he appeared in a friendly on Saturday. Sonora, 25, has totaled 87 appearances in Argentina’s top flight, scoring eight goals and registering seven assists in all competitions.
The Texas native originally began his career in Germany with VfB Stuttgart, but never debuted for the first team. A former U.S. youth national team player, Sonora has yet to appear for Gregg Berhalter’s senior team.
Jose Gallegos moves to Denmark for record fee
USL side San Antonio FC said goodbye to one of its promising talents, transferring Jose Gallegos to Danish Superligaen side Sonderjyske.
Gallegos, 20, joins on a four-year contract and breaks the record for the highest transfer fee for an export from the USL with a reported fee listed at $552,000.
The San Antonio native has been a subject of European interest for some time, trialing with Bayern Munich in May 2021. Gallegos was a key playmaker for San Antonio FC in their run to the conference finals during the 2021 season, scoring seven goals and registering four assists.
Gallegos finished with 10 goals and eight assists in 60 combined appearances in the USL over three seasons.
Joe Efford signs with Motherwell FC
The Scottish Premiership has quickly become a hotspot for Americans in Europe with Joe Efford being the latest, joining Motherwell FC on a one-year contract.
The Georgia-born forward had previous stops in Romania, Spain, Greece and recently in Belgium for Waasland-Beveren before making the move to Scotland. Efford, 25, has totaled 36 goals and 23 assists in his professional career, but hasn’t reached double-digit goals since 2019-20.
Motherwell currently sits in fourth place in the Scottish Premiership and Efford will hopefully provide a goal-scoring boost as the Steelman have the lowest goalscoring output among the top four teams in the league.
Terrence Boyd moves to FC Kaiserslautern
Terrence Boyd has a new home in the German 3. Liga, joining second place side, FC Kaiserslautern on a permanent transfer.
Boyd, 30, has spent most of his career in Germany, except for stops in Austria with Rapid Vienna and MLS with Toronto FC. The veteran forward was the top forward while at Hallescher FC over the past two seasons, scoring 40 goals in 90 appearances for the club.
Born in Germany, Boyd represented the U.S. men’s national team at various youth levels and earned 14 caps for the senior team with his last call-up coming in 2016.
Kaiserslautern will be the sixth German club that Boyd has played for in his lengthy career.
OTHER TRANSFERS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
- Matt Turner: New England Revolution to Arsenal FC (Read)
- Kevin Paredes: D.C. United to Vfl Wolfsburg (Read)
- Ricardo Pepi: F.C. Dallas to F.C. Augsburg (Read)
- Daryl Dike: Orlando City to West Bromwich Albion (Read)
- James Sands: NYCFC to Rangers (loan with option to buy) – Read
- Justin Che: F.C. Dallas to TSG Hoffenheim (loan with option to buy) – Read
- Cole Bassett: Colorado Rapids to Feyenoord (loan with option to buy) – Read
- Taylor Booth: Bayern Munich to Fc Utrecht (pre-contract agreed) – Read
- Bryan Reynolds: Roma to Kortrijk (loan with no option to buy) – Read
- Isaiah Leflore: Sporting KC to SC Braga B
- Bryang Kayo: Vfl Wolfsburg to FC Nürnberg II (loan)
- Marlon Fossey: Fulham to Bolton Wanderers (loan)
Can Trusty get a work permit?
I got 2 thoughts on this. 1) – England isn’t part of the EU. Red tape isn’t as serious as it was a few years ago. 2)- Arsenal could loan him to a club in a smaller league, while he works in Europe establishing a work record.
Does Trusty have a chance to get minutes at Arsenal? This seems like a big jump for him.
you have the right instinct. he’s too old to go to their academy/age group/reserves. they are owned by an american who could probably force whatever he wanted, but i don’t see a guy who can’t make the NT yet starting there. for that matter, zero caps, does he have anything to base a work permit on, or a second passport? kind of feels soto-ish. loan back to MLS then loan to a third country.
turner is more complicated. he can get a permit. i think he’s being brought in to be the backup. (so this is basically steffen at city). but leno didn’t transfer out and they are done for the cup games. so they might loan him out someplace he might play for the spring.
do any of the keepers have a decent agent? like half the good keepers in the pool are english bench now. arsenal sounds great but it’s like can no one find someplace to go start? horvath had a summer foothold then went to forest and kneecapped his own US roster chances.
Yea, I wish more of these guys would realize that getting signed by a huge club doesn’t mean you have made it. Going to a good club in a good league then actually playing and playing well mean you have made it.
Another exciting January transfer window for Americans this year. Bello to the Bundesliga. Trusty to the Premier League. Exciting news for US pipeline players. I’m most excited for Jose Gallegos!! The pandemic robbed people of a lot of things. US soccer fans didn’t see the last set of U20s play. Jose would’ve been part of that player pool. Llanez & Gallegos on the wings would’ve made some good futbol. Looking forward to seeing them & Bello on the ‘24 Olympic Roster.
With the recent change to the CONCACAF Olympic Qualification, the U-20 WC qualification tournament this summer now doubles for the Olympics; the US may actually qualify this cycle.