مدير عام كرة القدم
The summer transfer window is the time for clubs to do big business. This summer, though, is particularly important. With a كأس العالم on the horizon, every decision will get extra scrutiny, especially for the U.S. men’s national team stars looking to represent their team next summer.
Transfers are always under the microscope – doubly so in a World Cup year. The right move can change a player’s career, catapulting them into permanent status as a World Cup participant. The wrong move? That can dash your dreams. It happened last World Cup cycle with Ricardo Pepi, who fell out of the picture just before Qatar due to a goalscoring drought at Augsburg. If you’re going to move this late in a cycle, you have to get it right. High risk and high reward.
It can mean more money, more prestige, a World Cup spot – all are there for the taking when players take a big swing on the transfer market. It’s been an eventful summer for the USMNT as players seek to make the right decisions on the club level.
Throughout the summer window, بالجم will grade every completed deal involving USMNT players.
The summer transfer window is the time for clubs to do big business. This summer, though, is particularly important. With a World Cup on the horizon, every decision will get extra scrutiny, especially for the U.S. men’s national team stars looking to represent their team next summer.
Transfers are always under the microscope – doubly so in a World Cup year. The right move can change a player’s career, catapulting them into permanent status as a World Cup participant. The wrong move? That can dash your dreams. It happened last World Cup cycle with Ricardo Pepi, who fell out of the picture just before Qatar due to a goalscoring drought at Augsburg. If you’re going to move this late in a cycle, you have to get it right. High risk and high reward.
It can mean more money, more prestige, a World Cup spot – all are there for the taking when players take a big swing on the transfer market. It’s been an eventful summer for the USMNT as players seek to make the right decisions on the club level.
Throughout the summer window, بالجم will grade every completed deal involving USMNT players.
For Wiley: A logical move, given his history with the club. The former Atlanta متحد defender spent the second half of the season on loan with the Championship club, looking more than capable of contributing. Knowing that, it’ll be good for Wiley to get a full year in that familiar environment, one that should allow him to develop as a player in one of the world’s toughest leagues. The only question? Could have gone higher, having looked capable at Ligue 1’s Strasbourg before being injured. Overall, though, familiarity is good, so this move makes sense. Grade: B+
For Watford: This one is a no-doubter, given what they saw during his brief spell with the club last season. One of the best ways for the teams to improve is to find high-value loans, and Wiley is exactly that for a Watford side that finished 14th last season. The Hornets, of course, face a fight to be anything more than mid-table under new coach Paulo Pezzolano. But bringing in high-upside players such as Wiley surely helps. Grade: A
For Chelsea: The jokes continue about Chelsea’s loan army, and the hardest part of managing that is making sure each individual gets what they need – whether that’s another loan or a sale. Just 20, Wiley is still in the development phase and will likely spend at least another few years as part of this Chelsea group. Overall, then, what matters is Chelsea doing right by their investment so that they can maximize value. This seems like a good place for him to do that, which means it’s good for Chelsea. Grade: B+
For Campbell: This is the big leap that’s needed if he’s to really contend for a centerback spot. At the moment, he doesn’t seem to be a favorite to snag a spot, but a strong season with his new club would surely see him make a late push to be involved at the World Cup. In that sense, it’s a low-risk move from a USMNT perspective as he looks to follow up on his January debut. It’s surely also a feel-good moment from a personal perspective as the 24-year-old gets his crack at English soccer. Grade: A
For West Brom: The club has identified centerback as a position of need, having signed both Campbell and former Liverpool defender Nat Phillips during this window. With the defense clearly bolstered, it’ll be interesting to see if another American, Daryl Dike, can get going in the attack, giving the club what it needs to go from a ninth-place finish last season into one of those playoff spots. The only question is if Campbell, who hasn’t played in that league before, will be good enough to help – which is always a risk when you sign players from abroad. Grade: B
For CF Montreal: The team is going nowhere fast, so it makes sense to cash out on one of the few valuable assets and start rebuilding for the future. Sitting last in MLS, the Canadian side needs a massive amount of help and that help will likely have to come across multiple transfer windows. Knowing that, they did right by Campbell by letting him go while also netting a little $1.5 million transfer fee. Grade B
For Cardoso: How many better coaches are out there than Diego Simeone? The longtime Atletico Madrid boss clearly sees something special in Cardoso, which means that the American will get his chance at one of the world’s true megaclubs. That said, the move won’t feel like a massive leap up, as Cardoso has already proven himself against La Liga’s best during his time at Real Betis. The question is whether he can translate his Betis performances to Madrid and, ultimately, the USMNT. There’s clearly a special player there, but one that still needs to be unlocked. Grade: A+
For Atletico Madrid: With Rodrigo De Paul on his way to Miami, the club needed midfield help, and they found it in Cardoso. He arrived with a solid track record and, just as importantly, plenty of upside, which means Simeone can mold him into what he needs going forward. The fee is hefty, of course, but it’s also the going rate for top players. Cardoso is clearly one of those. He’s also one of the projects that so often ends up being a success story at Atleti. Grade: A-
For Real Betis: They knew this day was coming. Tottenham reportedly had the right of first refusal, but Atletico Madrid went above and beyond to cut a deal for Cardoso. That deal sees the midfielder leave Betis after just more than a year and a half with the club. But in truth, during that year and a half, he showed he was ready for more. Good on Betis, then, to get a decent fee for him. After falling just short in the Conference League final last season, they will have to go again without a major piece in midfield. Grade: B
For Agyemang: A logical step up, but also a risky one. It seems that he has the inside track on that third striker spot, and one pathway to that spot was to continue to bang in goals in MLS. Instead, Agyemang will now leap into the unknown, joining a Derby team that has certainly had its issues in recent years. What if he struggles to adapt? What if he doesn’t get service? What if he does well, but not as well as, say, the other USMNT contending strikers in the very same league? Agyemang has very much bet on himself and, while it could pay off, it’s certainly not the clearest path to a World Cup spot. Grade: C
For Derby County: After finishing just one point from relegation to League One, Derby needed to bring in reinforcements, landing on the rising USMNT striker. There are some drawbacks, of course, namely his inexperience at this level and the hernia problem that will keep him out for the season’s first few weeks. In general, though, Agyemang looks like a striker tailor-made for the Championship, a league where his physical gifts should stand out. Grade: B
For Charlotte: They’ll be sad, but sad like the Woody Harrelson meme from Zombieland. A whole bunch of money, potentially with more to come, will allow them to wipe away their tears. It’s hard to see a fan-favorite go, but the club does have a ready-made replacement in Idan Toklomati and can now re-invest that Agyemang money elsewhere. So, emotionally, it’s a blow, but from a sporting side? A pretty damn good piece of business for a player who was playing in college just a few years ago. Grade: A-
For Tillman: A well-earned step up to a massive, massive club. Tillman had dominated the Eredivise and was always going to spread his wings and fly off to somewhere else. Ultimately, he landed at Leverkusen, the club that beat Bayern Munich, Tillman’s former team, to the title in 2024. This is a big club, albeit one going through a bit of a rebuild following some major losses. Tillman, though, is a key part of that rebuild as he returns to the Bundesliga as a potential star. Grade: A
For Leverkusen: They certainly needed a Florian Wirtz replacement after the playmaker’s record-breaking move to Liverpool. Tillman, of course, can’t do that sort of heavy-lifting on his own, but Leverkusen did well to quickly sign a talented attacking midfielder who has proven he can create for himself and others, too. New manager Erik ten Hag has a lot to figure out, including how to sort the attack without the likes of Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong creating chaos. Ten Hag, though, will clearly rely on Tillman, the club’s record signing, in both the short and long term. A fun subplot: Bayern had an option to bring back Tillman, but it’s Leverkusen that ended up with him instead. Grade: B+
For PSV: The Dutch side knows where they are on the food chain. When they sign a player such as Tillman, they aren’t keeping him for long. Good on them, then, for getting two Eredivisie titles with him before making a massive profit on the sale. That’s how the club does business and, if they can do it while also winning, all the better. The Tillman era is over, but it was a highly successful and, ultimately, profitable one for PSV. Grade: A+
For Downs: In a sense, it’s a lateral move, going from one second division club to another. That, though, doesn’t take into account the money in the Championship or the resume of developing talent that Southampton has built. Downs is their latest project following a drop from the الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز, and the club is invested in developing him, considering the fee they paid. Because of that, Downs should get a chance to shine at a legitimately big club, one that will have dreams of being back in the Premier League. He’ll also have a direct competition with the other Championship strikers, which should help clear up his USMNT case either way. Grade: B+
For Southampton: Downs is just one of three signing, so we’ll have to see how this team gets reconstructed under new coach Will Still. It’s not a direct comparison, of course, but goalscoring was the club’s downfall in a historically-bad Premier League season, with Paul Onuachu finishing as the team leader with just four. As a result, they’re back in the Championship. Would it have been wiser to spend on someone proven at this level? Perhaps, but Southampton clearly value upside, so they’ve taken a swing on a forward that could blossom into one worth multiple times what they paid. Grade: B
For Koln: A bitter loss for the club, who will now head back to the Bundesliga without the striker that got them there. Downs netted 10 goals while providing five assists last season, serving as the focal point for Koln as they escaped the 2. Bundesliga. Now, they’ll have to move on without him despite not getting a club-altering fee for that loss. Bundesliga survival was always going to be difficult – it’ll be even harder now as the club needs to find a replacement. Grade: D
