Taylor Booth’s rapid rise was solidified this week by a pair of reports from two major Dutch publications.
According to VI: “The chance that Taylor Booth will still play for FC Utrecht after this summer is small,” with top Dutch clubs as well as teams from Spain and England interested in the 21-year-old American.
The report added that Utrecht will expect to break its record for an outbound transfer, which is currently β¬8.4 million.
Meanwhile, De Telegraaf said that Ajax and PSV are keen on bringing Booth in this summer.
For a player who had very little first-team minutes before this season, Booth’s rise has come as somewhat of a surprise. But watching his combination of skill, confidence and vision, you’d be forgiven for thinking the midfielder had years of experience under his belt.
The Utah native came up through Bayern Munich’s academy but only managed one first-team appearance in his time with the German giants. His other senior minutes came in a loan at Austrian side St. PΓΆlten two seasons ago.
After joining Utrecht last summer on a free transfer from Bayern, Booth initially began this season rotating between the club’s first team and reserve side.
By November, though, Booth was not only an every-game starter for Utrecht, he was even named the Eredivisie player of the month.
Taylor Booth is ππ«πππ’π―π’π¬π’π ππ©ππ₯ππ« π―ππ§ ππ ππππ§π ππ¨π―ππ¦πππ«π @FCutrecht's nummer 10 is deze maand twee keer door fans verkozen tot de beste van het veld met geweldige statistiekenπ€© pic.twitter.com/UpCxkO3HRU
— Eredivisie (@eredivisie) November 30, 2022
Now, Booth’s U.S. national team debut seems a matter of when, not if. VI says he is on the USMNT’s provisional roster for CONCACAF Nations League matches later this month.
If Booth is called in, the U.S. would be wise to get him on the pitch at some point in those two games to cap-tie him β he does, after all, hold an Italian passport, too.
Booth being stuck in an international tug-of-war between the U.S. and Italy may seem a little far fetched, but if his current trajectory continues then it may not be the craziest thing imaginable.
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