England is not the safe harbor for young American soccer proteges that it once was.
In truth, Britannia was always a difficult place to grow as a young foreign player. The league’s reputation has finally caught it, though, and we now know that whatever the Premier League’s perception as the world’s top domestic league, it does not make way for young players like any other top league in Europe. In fact, it’s consistently the oldest of the top five leagues in Europe by average starting age.
This obviously has not deterred everyone. The Premier League’s top teams continue to reach out across the pond for the first true Premier League breakout star since Clint Dempsey, and young teenage players are wont to heed those horn blasts. It is, after all, a mighty prestigious place to play your soccer, whatever the metrics for young players.
There are other destinations abroad with higher value as developers these days, but Americans are still trickling to Albion to establish themselves at top clubs. And these are the five closest to first team breakthroughs. The only litmus is they can’t have yet debuted in a league match (sorry Matt Miazga). And for these five, that could be on the way sooner rather than later.
