The captain of the U.S. U15 Boys National Team already has his mind on a move to England. The legislation just needs to catch up.

Kyle Gruno is playing with Leicester City, and while an official deal has to wait until next year when he turns 16, all signs are pointing to an agreement between the two parties.

Kyle Gruno

Leicester spotted Gruno during one of his previous trials in England, according to his father Ian Gruno. The youth national team defender was training with Fulham at the time before Leicester inquired about his availability. After a few weeks at the club, the Championship side knew they had something and kept the young American on an extended trial with the club.

While Leicester might not have the glitzy name of some of the other British clubs that Gruno has played with in the past (Chelsea, Liverpool, etc.), it is one of the top academies in England.

“It is a category-1 club in terms of its academy,” Ian Gruno said. “Throughout the Premiership and the Championship, there are 20 clubs with category-1 status. Leicester had to put a ton of money into its youth setup to get this status.”

Leicester’s history of developing players and bringing them up to the first team stood out to the Gruno family in the search for the right professional environment for Kyle to develop his game.

“Leicester is known for bringing kids through,” Ian Gruno said. “There are a couple of academies out there that are really good at bringing the kids through and getting them to first team football. That was really important.”

On top of the history of player development, the Foxes are on the way back up. The first team is eight points clear in the Championship and very likely on the way back to a spot in the Premiership.

Gruno, from Saddle River, N.J., is eligible to join the club officially when he turns 16 due to his possession of an Italian passport via his mother’s side of the family.

While Kyle has been in England, he has featured with the U15 and U16 teams at Leicester. Moving forward, the expectation is he will play with the U16 squad next year and then look toward the U18 and U21 squads in the future.

Gruno, known for his composure on the ball and leadership in defense, has predominantly played as a center back with the U.S. youth national team, but he recently moved to right back on the trip to Dubai where the U15 BNT played against older competition. Leicester has also toyed with the idea of playing the tall defender out on the channel due to his technical skill and range of passing.

Up next for Gruno is the U15 BNT camp in Carson, Calif. scheduled for later this month. As one of the key pieces of the U15 BNT, he is likely to get a look from the U17 Men’s National Team coaching staff in the buildup to next year’s youth World Cup. 

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