It seems like a long time ago that the winger started the USMNT’s first World Cup qualifier
Konrad de la Fuente’s stint at Olimpiacos has gone south in a hurry.
De la Fuente completed a season-long loan move to the Greek side in August, looking to improve on a debut campaign at Marseille that fizzled out in part due to injuries after a promising beginning.
But things have actually gone worse in Greece for the 21-year-old, who joined Marseille from Barcelona in a £3 million move in June 2021, signing a four-year deal with the Ligue 1 side.
The first signs of trouble in Greece came in September, when Olimpiacos omitted De la Fuente from its Europa League squad.
At that point, De la Fuente at least had the league to fall back on for minutes, having started two of his side’s first three matches. But things were about to get a whole lot worse after a coaching change.
Olimpiacos sacked Carlos Corberán in mid-September after the club won just two of his 11 games in charge, replacing him with Míchel.
De la Fuente has been entirely frozen out under Míchel, failing to even make a matchday squad under the Spanish manager. He’s now been dropped for five straight games.
That has led to reports that the U.S. national team winger could see his loan end prematurely in January. With Marseille, starting the season well in Ligue 1, De la Fuente would figure to face an uphill battle for minutes were he not to go on loan again.
It was only a year ago that De la Fuente, in form at Marseille, started for the USMNT in its opening World Cup qualifier against El Salvador.
That seems a long time ago now. He’s still just 21, but the promising winger needs to prove himself as a consistent player at the senior club level. So far, that simply hasn’t happened.
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