Mexico and U.S. Prospects: A Look at the Future
It is no question that U.S. soccer continues to grow in strides, surprising both friends and foes. As MLS continues to grow, so does the US Soccer Federation. Perhaps the best indicator of this growth lies in their pool of young stars in the making, with a more poignant statistic being how many of those young players are in European leagues. As we begin this new year, just how exactly is the prospects “arms race” playing out between the U.S Federation and the F.M.F?
For context, we’ll define prospects here as mainly players under 23. With that in mind, let’s compare.
If our measurements here will be based on how many players are in European leagues, no doubt the US has the advantage here. The obvious ones of course are The Big Four: Christian Pulisic (22, Chelsea), Sergiño Dest (20, Barcelona), Weston McKennie (22, Juventus), and the 2020 US Young Male Player of the Year, Gio Reyna (18, BVB). Off these players alone, the US already has the upper hand. The Big Four are for the most part starters for their respective, high-caliber teams. In that age bracket and in UEFA Champions League caliber teams, the only player Mexico has representing would be Edson Alvarez (23, Ajax). One could of course make the case that these aren’t necessarily prospects but rather more “consolidated” players (with the exception of Reyna and Dest), so let’s look at other players that haven’t quite “made it big” yet but are on their way.
In this category, the US also outshines Mexico as far as quantity goes. We’ll start with the Mexicans in this case. Perhaps the most obvious of el Tri’s prospects in Europe is Real Betis’ striker, Diego Lainez (20, Real Betis). Many look at the ex-America player to be the next great Mexican star, although he has had it tough in Betis, at just 20 years old he has plenty of time to further develop. Aside from Lainez, another prospect in Europe with high expectations would be Eugenio Pizzuto (18, Lille). The former Pachuca product made the jump earlier this year to French side Lille OSC, having yet to make his debut for them as he is still recovering from a horrific injury he suffered earlier in the year. With the second half of the season coming up, however, all eyes will be on the young Mexican midfielder as he fully begins his European adventure. Aside from these two, Mexico does have a few other prospects in Europe that are perhaps not as high profile.
We’ll start with Jesus Alejandro Gomez, an 18-year-old trying to consolidate himself with Boavista in Portugal. The ex-Atlas defender is currently with the Portuguese side on loan since August, so he’ll have to impress fast if he plans on continuing his European adventure. Gerardo Arteaga (22, Genk) is another prospect that is also quietly going about his craft in Europe. The former Santos product made the jump earlier this year as well, going to Belgium league team K.R.C. Genk over the summer. Since then, the defender has slowly worked his way into the team, having even scored a goal this season for the team that gave the world talents such as Kevin de Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois. Another player that is slowly being developed in Europe would be Teun Wilke (18, Heerenveen U21). Wilke is looked at with very eager eyes by the Mexico federation and has many referring to the Queretaro product as the next “Chucky” Lozano.
Other recent Mexican exports are Santiago Montiel (17, Villarreal) and Emiliano Garcia (17, Villarreal), both having been sent to La Liga from Puebla just this past month. Two remaining youngsters in Europe are individuals that at this point in time are probably further from the Mexico National Team than closer. Those two individuals would be Marcelo Flores (18, Arsenal) and Luka Romero (16, Mallorca). Both players have dual nationalities with Mexico and other countries. In the case of Marcelo Flores, he has eligibility to play for Mexico, Canada, and England. Luka Romero has the ability to choose between Mexico and Argentina. Each of these players has so far accepted call ups for Canada and Argentina, respectively. Unfortunately for Mexico, as far as European based prospects, the list ends there.
On the American side, it is quite a different story. For every Mexican prospect in Europe, the U.S has a counter-response two times over, and the list continues to grow as time goes on. We’ll start with those that are getting minutes in the more prominent European Leagues. In the German Bundesliga, we have striker Josh Sargent (20, Werder Bremer) and midfielder Tyler Adams (21, RB Leipzig). Both youngsters are key pieces for their respective teams, often in the starting eleven for their teams, especially true for Sargent who has started all his matches.
The States also have an ace up their sleeves here in a young fellow named Chris Richards (20, Bayern Munich). The young American defender earned his first league and Champions League starts this year with Bayern and continues to impress head coach Hansi Flick. Of course, the Bundesliga is also where 18-year-old Gio Reyna develops his craft as a starter and is already an important part of Borussia Dortmund’s attack. Next door in England, the U.S has as a representative in New York-born midfielder Owen Otasowie, who just made his Wolverhampton debut this month at 19 years old. Further south in France, another prospect with high expectation is Timothy Weah (20, Lille OSC), son of the legendary George Weah.
Next door in Italy, aside from Weston McKennie consolidating himself as a key piece in the Juventus attack, la Juve are close to signing another American; 19-year-old Bryan Reynolds of FC Dallas. Spain’s La Liga also has representatives of the U.S present. Sergiño Dest is the standout of the group here, now a frequent starter with Barcelona at 20 years old. However, Barça also has among their ranks another US product, Konrad De La Fuente (19, Barcelona B). The Barcelona academy standout is highly lauded as one of Barça’s next future stars. La Liga also features another U.S player, Yunus Musah (18, Valencia). The rising star is already an important part of the Valencia team, enough so that he recently signed an extension with them through 2026.
Sticking with the Iberian Peninsula, in Portugal Reggie Cannon (22, Boavista) is earning his keep with his team and already getting the attention of the big hitters in the Liga Nos. Elsewhere in Europe, the U.S still has various players developing throughout various leagues. Players such as Ulysses Llanez (19, SC Heerenveen), Sebastian Soto (20, SC Telstar), and Richy Ledezma (20, PSV) continue to grow within their respective teams. As mentioned earlier, there are more on the way as well. Philadelphia Union standout, Brendan Aaronson is on his way to Austrian side RB Salzburg at the age of 20. The Union is also close to sending another player overseas. That would be defender Mark McKenzie (21) who would be headed to Belgium league team, Genk, to join Gerardo Arteaga.
Clearly, the U.S has more prospects developing themselves in Europe than Mexico does, but the question is: is that enough? Or is there more to the story? Of course, having players develop in Europe gives you better odds of them developing into promising players, but what about your respective domestic leagues?
In this area, the pendulum swings in Mexico’s favor. In Major League Soccer, one of the few key prospects the U.S has is LA Galaxy’s Julian Araujo (19). The Galaxy does have another promising prospect that is teetering between the US and Mexico National Teams. That would be an 18-year-old wonder kid, Efrain Alvarez. The Los Angeles native has previously featured for Mexico in the U-17 team but has recently been courted by the US National Team, even accepting an invitation to a December camp for the U.S just last month. Alvarez in particular is one that is being watched and coveted closely by both federations. Another prospect that may have the same future a few years down the line is 15-year-old Alex Alcala. The youngster also recently signed for LA Galaxy and has stated his wish is to one day feature for the Mexico National Team, although Alcala is very young still, and since he does have the option of joining Team U.S.A, things certainly can change in the future.
On the Liga MX side, things are much different. Here Mexico can boast of youngsters the same age as those that the U.S has in Europe, but that are arguably more mature in their careers. Players such as Adrian Mora (23, Toluca), Sebastian Cordova (23, America), Carlos “Charly” Rodriguez (23, Monterrey), and Cesar Montes (23, Monterrey) are all prospects that are well established and pillars in their respective teams. While they may not be playing in European competition, the level of play and responsibility that these young players exhibit can be equal to that of what some of the overseas players are experiencing. While it may be a stretch to make the comparison between one of the “Big 4” previously mentioned and a Mexican prospect playing in Liga MX, the comparison and argument can certainly be made that a player such as Jose Juan Macias (21, Chivas), another highly lauded young prospect, is perhaps favorable over similarly aged Josh Sargent (20, Werder Bremen).
It isn’t as far-fetched an argument to say that Macias is a more mature and complete player than Sargent, at the moment. Other players such as Roberto Alvarado (22, Cruz Azul) and Jonathan Gonzalez (21, Monterrey) are also developing themselves in Liga MX and have important roles in their respective teams at a level that the U.S can’t quite match. Elsewhere in Liga MX, there are also prospects that are starting to bring themselves up slowly, having recently made their debuts. Even though these individuals aren’t playing for European teams, they are still been looked at as the future of the Mexican National Team and have the chance to be just that regardless of if they develop themselves in Liga MX or in Europe. To name a few, we are referring to players such as Santiago Gimenez (19) of Cruz Azul, Amaury Garcia (19) of Pumas, Jordan Carrillo (19) of Santos, and Jesus Rivas (18) also of Pumas. All of these players have high expectations to help lead Mexico to the next level in the future, and those expectations are no less diminished simply because they are not in Europe.
Now, of course, the ultimate judge of our speculation and analysis, if you could call it that, will be time. Time will tell if all of these do indeed live up to the so-called “hype”. Some may not, but hopefully many will, on both sides of the aisle. Advancements such as these have a positive impact on the region in terms of soccer and open the doors for future players to also develop themselves in Europe.
This may very well be a generational opportunity for the U.S, a once in a generation chance for the men’s national team to make the jump to the next level, but the question remains: will it actually come to fruition in the future and will it be enough to take them to that aforementioned next level? Or perhaps this is just the beginning for the stars and stripes as far as how they develop their players, with more to come in the future. And as far as Mexico is concerned, will they get left behind in this arms race to be the best in CONCACAF?
For Mexico perhaps it may come down to two choices: continuing down the current path of developing players first in Mexico before attempting to export them overseas, or will they change course and do as the U.S does and send their best and youngest to Europe to develop their skills there? Perhaps Puebla has given us a glimpse of what is to come in the future, sending the youngest to develop in Europe as they have done with Santiago Montiel and Emiliano Garcia. In either case, only time will tell.
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