Taylor Booth might be only one season into his time with Eredivisie club FC Utrecht, but the interest in him from fellow Dutch clubs is reportedly growing with every match played.
Ajax and PSV are targeting Booth for a potential transfer this summer, Dutch outlet Telegraaf reported Tuesday. The FC Utrecht winger/midfielder joined on a permanent transfer from Bayern Munich last summer and has made an immediate splash with the club.
Booth, 21, has made 24 combined appearances for FC Utrecht this season, scoring two goals and adding three assists. The former U.S. youth national team player has missed the past two matches through injury, but is fighting to get back into the picture with international duty vastly approaching later this March.
Booth has previously been called in to USMNT senior camps but has yet to make his senior debut.
Booth previously worked his way through the Bayern Munich youth ranks, featuring regularly for the Under-21 and Under-23 teams. He made one senior appearance for the Bundesliga giants, while also heading out on loan to Austrian Bundesliga side SKN St. Poelten.
FC Utrecht is currently seventh in the Eredivisie standings, 13 points out of the top-three. Ajax sits in second place while PSV is in fourth.
Both clubs would be a logical next step in his career. Depends on these clubs on how they see him fit and at what position. He can play all midfield positions and has played all midfield positions for both Bayerns youth teams and Utrecht. He is another Swiss Army knife type of mifldfielder. Personally I see him as an 8. He isn’t really a goal scoring wide player. But he can be a Kevin De Byrne type of midfielder.
PSV & Ajax are usually the top 2 clubs in Holland. They are known for identifying and grooming talent for resale to larger leagues and clubs. Booth has shown this season that he has the talent to compete against anyone in the Dutch league.
Meanwhile FC Utrecht is a mid-table Dutch club who may not have the same financial resources. So they may be interested in selling Booth for a small profit as a more proven commodity with a re-sell clause attached to get some additional cash whenever he jumps to a bigger league.
We all want our USMNT players to challenge themselves, and I do believe that PSV and/or Ajax would challenge him. Could he get a similar challenge if he goes somewhere else (Mid-table EPL or Bundesliga)…sure. Would it be nice to have all our players in top 4 clubs in the top leagues….sure, but it’s got to be the right fit at the right time. Only Booth will really know if he’s ready for that type of pressure.
Yes, but Utrecht is an incredibly nice city. (Just thought I’d add that tidbit)
not surprising at all, everything FC Utrecht does offensively seems to go through Booth, and he’s handled it with aplomb!
finally get the kid playing and let’s move him on someplace else…..
Fairly likely Utrecht is going to be relegated and a move in his best interest. Rather than the often heard calls for top 5 PL clubs- this seems a good shout. Kid looks pretty special… Ajax is certainly a step up and would be a challenge- never any guarantees. To me at least, this is not an over-reach, but seems a reasonable challenge for someone of his talent and potential with a club quite adept at identifying and developing talent and sending them on better for it.
“going to be relegated?” by that you mean 7th of 18. they are closer to europe than eerste.
he just came from one of the leading clubs and talent developers. he’s been there a year. he’s about to get capped. settle for a second. the idea isn’t replicate his bayern struggles and loans.
i personally see ajax and PSV as on another planet from the rest of holland just like rangers and celtic are distinct from most of scotland. you’re basically trying to put him right back on UCL books and see what happens. i would do something more controlled than that. there are other options eg championship or rank and file EPL.
Guessing you were thinking Pepi and Groningen. Utrecht not going to be related.
Lol- ahhh- Johnny- you are right. What I get for commenting on a league I am marginally familiar with- highlights, Ajax CL matches- and recently seeking out matches with Pepi and Booth games. IV- totally get what you are saying- grass isn’t always greener- but if he’s going to move- I’ll stand by Ajax being a reasonable bite to chew off and one of the better clubs around to develop and showcase ones talent.
Will say, Ajax is usually the step before a fellow heads on off to one of the truly big teams in a Top-5 league…they get Champions League every year, they win the Dutch League almost every year, and they sell their top players on at a tidy profit…almost every year. It’s a huge shop window for the guys there, and they churn their roster pretty regularly since they’re always selling guys on by design.
If Booth can get Ajax and excel there – and there’s no reason to think he can’t, as well as he’s done at his present stop – it’s probably time to get real excited about Booth because it means his next stop will likely be a very big one, and for very big money.
That’s why he moved to Utrecht in the first place. To improve but also to make a splash and get noticed.
It’s not a club where you stay forever.
He’s a pro athlete and that means money is a factor, like it or not.
Athletes are perishable items and Booth’s career can literally end at any moment.
He’s the next big US thing right now but may not be in a year’s time if he stays at Utrecht.
Moving is always a gamble, always. But if Booth believes he can improve his overall situation then he should do it.
forever? he got there last summer. one season. americans constantly overshoot by overemphasizing money and health uncertainty. you know what’s also not certain? playing time on a UCL team. i think he’d be better off staying utrecht or moving to the championship or lower EPL. not sure why every US player move has to be PL or top 5 of the top 5. because all they think about is their cut of a transfer fee? how about a starting role and playing time when you aren’t even capped yet.
IV,
You’re overreacting. Ajax and PSV are a step up from Utrecht but not an unreasonable step up.
You’re also forgetting that if those two are really interested in Booth then they think Booth can succeed at their clubs.
They are both big clubs but it’s not like they are Chelsea and can throw money around like a drunken sailor.
If they are going to spend money on Booth, they must think he’s worth it.
Their endorsement is more relevant than anything you or I can say.
“americans constantly overshoot by overemphasizing money and health uncertainty. you know what’s also not certain? playing time on a UCL team.”
You’re good at spending other people’s money.
That’s just stupid. Stupid. There is no such thing as overemphasizing your money or , especially, your health. What a crock of shit.
“i think he’d be better off staying utrecht or moving to the championship or lower EPL. not sure why every US player move has to be PL or top 5 of the top 5. because all they think about is their cut of a transfer fee? how about a starting role and playing time when you aren’t even capped yet.”
“the championship or lower EPL” ???
You act like Booth can move anywhere he wants, whenever he wants and stay for a long as he feels necessary. In theory , maybe, but in reality such ease of movement is far more difficult than you portray it.
What makes you think Utrecht want him to hang around? Maybe they have some hot prospect in the pipeline that they are looking to feature next season.
This is a business and Booth is a commodity. Auto dealers are looking to get rid of their 2023 models to make space for the 2024’s. It’s no different in the football business.
2021/22 Utrecht signed 21 yr old CM Quinten Timber (2g 4a) from Ajax on a free transfer. A year later they sold him to Feyenoord for 7.4 million euros. He’s been a regular starter for the league leaders. July 2022 they sign Taylor Booth on a free from Bayern Munich, 2g 3a with 10 matches remaining. If the money is right for both clubs and Booth he’ll go, but 7 million euro transfer isn’t going to bring generational wealth. As of now PSV is only in a Conference League playoff spot. Not sure it’s worth a move to play in that competition.
V: you’re acting like we have never seen this before. we see it all the time. just because they sign him doesn’t mean he’s gonna start. it could be “we’ll see,” it could be as an “asset.” they think highly of him but the reason these european level teams are typically where they are is they have many players — redundant ones often — that people think highly of.
i am not anti-money. i am pro-haaland approach. incremental steps, make sure you start next place. better to steadily move into money you stay in than to jump too high, have a money deal, but become out of fashion and your next deal is $100k in MLS. set yourself up for success.
all due respect but do you want to play or do you want to cash paychecks? and maybe consider your NT future. there are other values and concerns than payday. when you retire do you want a statue or a pub named after you, or do you want to tell your kids you cashed paychecks. exactly. consider the soccer at some point. and no one that level is making chicken feed.
V: isn’t going from Utrecht to PSV the same as Haaland going from Salzburg to Dortmund? It’s not like he’s signing at Crystal Palace or Leeds.
IV,
“just because they sign him doesn’t mean he’s gonna start. it could be “we’ll see,” it could be as an “asset.” they think highly of him but the reason these european level teams are typically where they are is they have many players — redundant ones often — that people think highly of.”
No shit. And that will be true if he signs for any club better than Utrecht.
You want guaranteed PT. There is no such thing for the vast majority of players. That’s why Americans should all have Clint Dempsey’s attitude. and desire.
It’s up to Booth to figure out which club gives him the best shot at a good future. And I figure he’s better placed to figure that out than you. And if he screws that up , well fuck him, he deserves what happens.
“i am pro-haaland approach. incremental steps, make sure you start next place. better to steadily move into money you stay in than to jump too high, have a money deal, but become out of fashion and your next deal is $100k in MLS. set yourself up for success.”
Haaland approach? That’s flawed, and unrealistic. Haaland is almost a unicorn. He can pretty much dictate where he goes and how long he stays. He has more juice than 99.5 % of the players out there.
“all due respect but do you want to play or do you want to cash paychecks? and maybe consider your NT future. there are other values and concerns than payday. when you retire do you want a statue or a pub named after you, or do you want to tell your kids you cashed paychecks. exactly. consider the soccer at some point. and no one that level is making chicken feed.”
That’s none of your business. Not even close.
It’s Booth’s business. And he doesn’t owe you or me shit.
Players have to do what they, not Mr. Imperative Voice, think is best for them.
A lot of USMNT fans were pissed at Donovan for not moving to Europe and showing them how good Americans were. They wanted him to carry the flag. He got the nickname LandyCakes for a reason and it was not a term of endearment.
I think he did it because it was comfortable living in SoCal instead of dreary Germany. It kept him just fit enough to be in shape for his true love, the USMNT. Landon was basically a USMNT player who was loaned out to MLS.
The end result was that he was mostly available for the USMNT and he was usually healthy and in pretty good form.
As a USMNT fan I figured if he moved to Europe there was a chance he could improve and probably carry the flag really well. But I also figured he wouldn’t have been happy there. And an unhappy Landon was a shit player.
From that perspective, I was happy he stayed in MLS his whole playing career.
JR: are you suggesting booth has 28 G in 22 salzburg games like haaland did? and you’re confusing being the best in austria then moving to a good german team with being solid on a midtable dutch team that is on a different planet from the top teams in that league. you’re trying to say “but it’s just a few slots up holland” without acknowledging it’s like the gulf to the old firm in scotland. like we’re going dozens of points up their very tiered table from an even GD midtable team to ones with GD of like 43.
i mean, salzburg wins their league every year and in recent years they have beaten lille, and tied CFC and ACM in group play in UCL. they advanced ahead of wolfsburg last season. they would probably be fairly high up B.1 if they were german.
give them their due credit.
V: i can’t make their decisions for them, but when he missed the last world cup team, and might be affecting his future, surely i am allowed to suggest what to me seems wise. to me consolidate your slot. get capped, get integrated, then worry about moving around. i’m sorry but there is a lengthy list of reynolds- or miazga-style numbskulls who chase money and prestige and despite being nominally roma can’t even make the 23rd (or 25th or 26th) slot on the NT. they are free to make such decisions but the sheer bulk of guys who either barely make the NT or get cut for lack of club PT, suggests there are other considerations. personally i’m like is being the star at “fulham” or the like, while starting for your NT, not enough?
at a point, yeah, nunyabidness, but based on history maybe be more calibrated and trade off some prestige and money for soccer success and the NT. the old guard used to do it routinely, but now that we can sign at chelsea or the like, we don’t think if we should.
quit acting like it’s meaningless. i get to listen to folks say reyna should be benched or left off the NT because he is a sub at dortmund with 5G in his last 9 appearances. miazga ended up with cincy and off the NT out of any consideration.
Mr Voice,
“V: i can’t make their decisions for them, but when he missed the last world cup team, and might be affecting his future, surely i am allowed to suggest what to me seems wise. to me consolidate your slot. get capped, get integrated, then worry about moving around. “
I don’t know what Booth’s priorities are or but getting capped should be far down the list.
Make the first team at your club.
Get a regular gig.
Become a starter.
Become one of the best players of your side.
If you’re at a smaller club get talked about being a transfer target to a bigger club.
Booth is a PROFESSIONAL footballer so he’s in it to make as much money as he can. How much is his business not yours. The reality is he will have only so many peak earning years and they will never come again. So it would behoove him to not waste his time.
He should not sweat getting capped because if he does all these steps well, the USMNT will come calling.
Unless a Gregg type decides you’re not one of his boys.
Caps are devalued these days because they handed them out to the likes of Aaron Long and Ariolla. If they can get capped any half ass player can get capped. So don’t give me this crap about the skill level required to get capped. Or that you have to earn caps.
Getting capped in the Gregg era meant he liked you not that you were necessarily any fucking good.
In other words, getting capped is out of Booth’s control so focus on the things he can focus on, like improving at his day job as much as possible. That’s what pays the bills and the better he is at it the more likely he is to force people like Gregg to cap him.
.
“i’m sorry but there is a lengthy list of reynolds- or miazga-style numbskulls who chase money and prestige and despite being nominally roma can’t even make the 23rd (or 25th or 26th) slot on the NT. they are free to make such decisions but the sheer bulk of guys who either barely make the NT or get cut for lack of club PT, suggests there are other considerations. personally i’m like is being the star at “fulham” or the like, while starting for your NT, not enough?”
Enough for who? you? Go for it. Maybe it’s not enough for someone else. If you’re satisfied with being a star at Fulham it won’t be long before you’re not a star there. Clint fought like a dog every year for his place and was always looking at getting himself to a Champions League team.
He was ambitious while you are not. You don’t understand how at that level if you’re not getting better and better all the time you’re getting worse. There’s no standing still. So you might as well get paid for it.
Given a batch of US eligible players the “bulk” of them should NOT make the USMNT. The NT is supposed to be the elite and if all or if the majority of a bunch of “guys “ make the NT then how special is it really?
Guys like Caden Clark and Cowell should take heart. If Ariolla and Long can get capped , then they should have no trouble whatsoever.
Bryan’s story is not yet all told. As usual you’re being prematurely judgmental.
Miazga is not a numbskull. He made a ton of money and had a longer career at a higher level at a variety of clubs because of Chelsea’s loan army. They functioned as an agent for him, finding him gigs at a variety of clubs for years. He got probably much more out of his ultimately modest ability than others might have because he made smart use of the loan army.
We should all be such numbskulls.
“quit acting like it’s meaningless. i get to listen to folks say reyna should be benched or left off the NT because he is a sub at dortmund with 5G in his last 9 appearances. miazga ended up with cincy and off the NT out of any consideration.”
You’re right it’s not meaningless.
But all this doesn’t mean what you think it does.