Christian Cappis on trial in Germany

Is another American set to turn up at Bayern Munich?

FC Dallas Academy midfielder Christian Cappis has spent the past week training with the Bavarian giants. Cappis, a box-to-box central mid that’s earned call-ups to a couple of U.S. youth national team camps over the past year, made 27 appearances for FCD’s U18/19 team this past season.

Cappis has ties with Christopher Richards, the FC Dallas Homegrown signing that’s made a handful of preseason appearances for the Bayern Munich first team while he’s been on loan with the Bundesliga side. The pair were teammates with Texans SC Houston U18 team during the 2016-17, winning the DA title at that age group before both moving to FC Dallas for last season.

Per a source, Cappis is also expected to have a trial with another club in the Bundesliga and a stint in Denmark. If he returns stateside, his eligibility to sign a Homegrown deal with FC Dallas is unclear. As a native of Houston – although Cappis never played for the Dynamo Academy – the Dynamo could theoretically object to FC Dallas signing Cappis since he is from Houston’s catchment area. Most of this is pure speculation, of course.

The Texas native appeared in a match last week for Bayern's U23s, a 4-1 win against Arsenal (he is No. 32).

Highlights | Bayern U23 4-1 Arsenal U23. Including a brace for Alex Timossi Andersson on his debut [fcbayerntv]pic.twitter.com/81puhrvqTK

— Bayern & Die Mannschaft (@eMiaSanMia) July 25, 2018

Virginia midfielder to seek pro opportunities

Jean-Christophe Koffi, one of the most promising midfielders in the college game, won’t return to school for his final season of eligibility at Virginia.

Koffi has signed with James Grant and is exploring options abroad, sources told topdrawersoccer.com.

A product of the D.C. United Academy, Koffi earned back-to-back All-ACC postseason honors in 2016 and 2017. Over the course of his three years at the ACC program, he made a total of 57 appearances, starting all 21 games last fall, scoring three goals and adding four assists.

Imperato heads to Villarreal

There’s a second young American at Villarreal.

Midfielder Jack Imperato has joined the Academy of La Liga side Villarreal CF, the home of current U.S. midfielder Mukwelle Akale.

Imperato, a 2002 and the No. 30 ranked player in the 2020 Boys IMG Academy Top 150, looks to be a part of the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team for the 2019 cycle.

The De Anza Force Academy product is an attacking midfielder that can play centrally or out wide. He’s expected to start the 2018-19 season playing for Villarreal CF’s Juvenil B side. Per an old tweet, he has an Italian passport that allows him to move after having turned 16 earlier this year.

Lederman to join Gent

Longtime Barcelona Academy player Ben Lederman has left the club, according to the player’s Twitter account.

Lederman announced his departure from Barca’s La Masia on July 26, and tweeted that he is starting a “new chapter” at KAA Gent in Belgium.

The California native first joined La Masia back in April 2011. He was forced to leave in 2014, when FIFA deemed that the club was in violation of Article 19, which prohibits the signing of players under the age of 18 outside their home countries. He played for IMG Academy for a portion of that time when he was back in the United States, before returning to Barcelona in January 2017.

The club has yet to announce the move, though that should change shortly.