Tag: Luca Koleosho

Reyna’s injury woes continue as USMNT star ruled out of Bundesliga opener

The USMNT attacker is still fighting off a calf injury suffered in June

Gio Reyna has been ruled out of Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga opener this weekend due to an ongoing calf injury.

Reyna suffered the injury in June’s CONCACAF Nations League final against Canada, getting two assists before leaving at halftime after a tough tackle from an opponent. The United States would go on to win 2-0.

Two months later, the 20-year-old has yet to fully recover. He missed Dortmund’s entire preseason and its regular season opener last week, a 6-1 DFB-Pokal win against Schott Mainz.

In a press conference ahead of Saturday’s league opener against FC Köln, head coach Edin Terzić said the USMNT attacker has yet to recover.

“[Julien] Duranville, Reyna and [Thomas] Meunier are definitely out,” Terzić said. “There are question marks with Felix Nmecha and Karim Adeyemi, but there we are confident that it could work out for Saturday.”

Reyna has suffered through various injury issues during his time with Dortmund, though he managed to stay healthy throughout most of last season after being brought along slowly in the early going.

As the campaign wore on, however, Reyna found himself struggling for minutes due to the stellar form of the attackers above him on the depth chart. Still, he made the most of his opportunities by scoring a career-best seven league goals, despite only getting four starts all season.

Reyna came off the bench in Dortmund’s season finale against Mainz, grabbing two assists as his side agonizingly fell short of a Bundesliga title with a 2-2 draw in a game they needed to win.

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The Americans Abroad Five: Turner makes Premier League bow at Emirates — against Arsenal

Turner probably envisioned making his Premier League debut at the Emirates Stadium, but not exactly like this

Matt Turner probably envisioned making his Premier League debut at the Emirates Stadium, but not exactly like this.

Just days after completing a transfer from Arsenal to Nottingham Forest, the U.S. national team No. 1 made his debut for his new club. Coincidentally, it came at the home of his old club.

Turner failed to see any Premier League action in his lone season with Arsenal, but the 29-year-old now looks like Forest’s top choice in goal — at least for the time being.

It seems like he’ll get plenty of save opportunities as well. Turner made five saves from seven shots against the Gunners, as Forest fell 2-1 to the title-chasers in week one.

After some time on the beach, the Americans Abroad Five returns for a whole new season this week. What better way to begin than checking in with an old friend in a brand-new locale?

USMNT-eligible teenager Koleosho signs with Burnley

The teenager was born in Connecticut to a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother

American-born forward Luca Koleosho has completed a move to Burnley from Espanyol.

The 18-year-old made four La Liga appearances off the bench last season as Espanyol was relegated. He now moves to the Premier League after Burnley won the Championship last term.

According to the BBC, Burnley paid £2.6 million plus £860,000 in add-ons for Koleosho.

“It feels amazing to be here. As soon as I got the call from the coach (Vincent Kompany), I knew I wanted to come here,” Koleosho told the club’s official website.

“We spoke about the way they would help me improve and get better as a player and I was just excited by it, I can’t wait to get started now.”

Koleosho’s international future has been the subject of plenty of speculation since he became the youngest American-born player to feature in the Spanish top flight at the end of the 2021-22 season.

The teenager was born in Connecticut to a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother. He has played for the U.S. and Italy at youth level, and has been called into Canada’s senior side, though he has yet to make his debut.

Most recently, Koleosho was part of the Italy squad that won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship this summer.

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The next Balogun? Here are the dual nationals the USMNT will target now

Securing the striker was a huge win, but there’s still plenty of work to do for U.S. Soccer

Folarin Balogun’s commitment was the latest, and perhaps biggest victory in a recent string of major recruitment wins for the U.S. men’s national team.

Ricardo Pepi, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson, Jesús Ferreira and Sergiño Dest all committed in the last few years, and the latter four started against the Netherlands in the World Cup knockout round.

More recently, Alex Zendejas committed to the U.S. over Mexico and Brandon Vazquez said he was all in for the USMNT — though he’s technically still able to represent Mexico for now.

Even after a major win like Balogun, there is still plenty of work to be done at U.S. Soccer. There is a seemingly never-ending supply of promising dual nationals who could help the USMNT, either now or in the future.

Here are a few of the more pressing names that U.S. Soccer will be focused on after securing Balogun. The players are listed alongside the non-American countries for which they are eligible.

The top young USMNT players and prospects in 2023

The stars of today and tomorrow are ready to lead the USMNT to a bright future

The U.S. men’s national team should have a bright future ahead.

With one of the youngest teams at the World Cup, the USMNT got out of its group and qualified for the last 16 in Qatar — a substantial achievement after missing the 2018 tournament entirely.

Now the focus shifts to the main event: the 2026 World Cup on home soil.

Several of the 2022 roster’s best young players should be back and right in their prime in 2026, and they should be joined by a host of younger players just starting to make their way in the game now.

Below are some of the USMNT’s best young players. For the purposes of this list, the player must be born in 2003 or later.

Who is Luca Koleosho? Teenage La Liga debutant in tug-of-war between USMNT and Canada

The 17-year-old became the youngest American-born player to feature in La Liga last weekend

Many fans in North America likely hadn’t heard of Luca Koleosho before the past week, but the 17-year-old quickly boosted his profile with two big milestones in quick succession.

First, Koleosho made his La Liga debut for Espanyol last weekend, becoming the youngest American-born player to feature in the Spanish top flight.

Koleosho was then handed a senior call-up for Canada just days later. Suddenly, the winger had emerged as the latest talented American-born teenager to break through in Europe. But will he actually play for the U.S. in the future?

The winger’s international future is now set to be a closely followed subject this summer as he prepares to report for his first senior national team camp.

Who is Luca Koleosho?

Koleosho was born in Connecticut to a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother, and grew up playing youth soccer in New York.

In 2016, Koleosho moved to Spain and joined lower division club CF Reus. After making an impression there, he joined up with Espanyol in 2020.

Koleosho spent most of the 2021-22 season with Espanyol’s Under-19 side but also featured for the club’s reserves in the Spanish fourth tier. On the final day of the season, he was rewarded with a senior debut in a gesture that shows how highly rated he is at his club.

Which country will Koleosho pick?

Koleosho holds eligibility for four different countries, making his international future an intriguing storyline to follow.

Canada appears to have struck a major blow in the fight for Koleosho, but ESPN has reported that the teenager is still keeping his international options open and likely won’t decide until later in the summer.

Koleosho has previously played for the U.S. at the U-16 camp and in an interview with American Soccer Now last fall, he expressed his desire to be called in by the U.S. again.

“I was with the U-16 back in 2019 and It was really good,” Koleosho said. “It was my first time and I knew one other kid that was playing in the same league as me in Spain, so I got there with him. And it was it was a really good experience. I think it would be great for me to represent my country and play for them. If they call me, I’d be really happy to go.”

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