USMNT Player Tracker: Championship special, plus Pulisic preparing for Inter challenge

New York Times

22-04-2025

Welcome to this week's Championship Special USMNT tracker, a look at English football's frenetic second tier and the Americans battling in it.
Dubbed 'Europe's most exciting division', the Championship had been gloriously hard to say with any certainty who would be going up or down ahead of the Easter weekend. That picture is clearer now with two U.S.-owned clubs clinching promotion, although who will lift the trophy as champions is still very much up for grabs.
There is still the chance of playoff glory for other USMNT players, too. So here we go…
The Premier League's U.S. contingent has a pair of familiar returnees.
Two of the USMNT's exciting young attacking talents will now play at the top level in Europe once again next season after Brenden Aaronson's Leeds United and Luca Koleosho's Burnley both earned promotion.
That, of course, is providing neither moves to pastures new over the close season — although both have plenty of time on their contracts, with Aaronson's lasting until summer 2027 and Koleosho's 2029.
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Aaronson has played the larger part this term in contributing to his team's success. The 24-year-old has been a proper mainstay, appearing in all of Leeds' 44 league games so far and starting 41 of them. Words such as 'robust' and 'resilient' come to mind, particularly when you consider the grinding nature of the Championship with fixtures coming thick and fast. And the relentless drama the division throws up.
Koleosho, who is still just 20, started the campaign like he may also be a pivotal part of Burnley's title push, making 25 appearances in the club's 28 games until the new year, when he vanished from manager Scott Parker's plans.
In truth, the wide player had already struggled to recapture the exciting form he showed in the Premier League the previous season; his December 2023 knee injury was considered a significant blow for their ultimately unsuccessful survival fight.
Instead, as is often the case with young players, Koleosho's form waxed and waned, even when he was playing regularly this season, and Koleosho has spent much of the business end of the campaign on the bench.
Perhaps he can revive his potential once more in the top flight next term but, either way, the weekend was hugely positive for both players and their American-owned clubs.
Our writer Phil Hay underlined why promotion was so important for Leeds in The Athletic's excellent daily newsletter.
'49ers Enterprises — the investment vehicle controlled by the San Francisco 49ers and the majority stakeholder at Elland Road — didn't set out to run a Championship team,' he wrote. 'It sought a top-flight acquisition but changed its plans after Leeds were relegated in 2023. Two seasons in England's second tier have been expensive, largely because Championship clubs are money pits. In 2023-24 alone, Leeds lost £60million ($80m).'
As Phil points out, there are other big NFL names involved with Burnley's return — chiefly J.J. Watt, a former defensive end for the Houston Texans and investor in the Lancashire club, who will certainly approve of their record of shutouts this season. Parker's side have only conceded 15 goals in 44 league games.
Both clubs will now try to establish themselves at the top table and avoid the yo-yoing fortunes which have kept their fans on edge in recent seasons.
Well, for starters, Josh Sargent. But wait, Norwich's season has stalled, they've just sacked their manager, and any hopes of making the playoffs have long since been dashed?
All true, but it is still very possible that Sargent is scoring goals in the Premier League next season for any of a number of top-flight suitors who have tracked his prolific form during Norwich's middling season.
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The 25-year-old was on target with his 15th goal of the season on Good Friday, even if the strike ultimately didn't help his team avoid a 5-3 defeat at home by Portsmouth, a result which probably set the sacking of manager Johannes Hoff Thorup in motion ahead of the 3-1 loss to Millwall on Monday.
The goal kept the American, who was taken off injured in the second half, fourth in the Championship's top-scorer chart despite missing huge chunks of the season through injury, and reminded those Premier League clubs needing a new centre-forward what he can do when he is fit.
Another USMNT forward who may make it into the Premier League is Haji Wright.
Coventry City's fortunes were better than Norwich's over the Easter schedule, with a big 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Good Friday ensuring they stayed in the playoff places, even if they followed it by losing 3-1 to bottom-side Plymouth Argyle.
Wright pulled a goal back for his team on Monday — illustrated in Jeff Rueter's graphic of the weekend below — and now has 12 for the season.
Elsewhere across the division, Mauricio Pochettino was spotted at Watford's game with Burnley at Vicarage Road on Friday, presumably watching Caleb Wiley firsthand.
The hosts' 20-year-old left-back, who spent the first half of the season with Strasbourg in France, is on loan from Chelsea. The former Atlanta United defender played the full game last week as his side lost 2-1 to Burnley. He followed that up with another 90 minutes in Monday's 1-0 loss to Portsmouth.
But it remains to be seen where Wiley will end up next season.
But there is one U.S. forward for whom the Premier League feels out of reach just now.
Daryl Dike's injury-ravaged 2024-25 season with U.S.-owned West Brom entered a new phase of uncertainty when the club sacked manager Tony Mowbray on Sunday, with their chances of making the playoffs remote. The 24-year-old striker is likely focusing on an injury-free campaign next seaon, wherever he plays.
That awful Achilles injury suffered in February 2024 means he has not started a game for the Baggies this season, having spent almost a year on the sidelines.
Name: Christian Pulisic
Club: Milan
Position: Forward
Appearances (all competitions): 43
Goals: 15
Away from the Championship, Milan's 2-1 defeat by Atalanta on Sunday further reduced the Rossoneri's already slim chances of qualifying for the Champions League next season. They stay ninth, nine points behind Bologna in fourth, and even creeping into the Europa League through their league finish is far from straightforward now.
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Pulisic & Co can still make it into that competition if they lift the Coppa Italia, though, so watch this space with their chance of doing that resting on a semi-final derby against Inter at San Siro in midweek. Their tie is beautifully poised at 1-1 after the first leg.
Name: Kevin Paredes
Club: Wolfsburg
Position: Midfielder/Wing-back
Appearances: 1
After a frustratingly long spell out on the sidelines, one of the USMNT's more intriguing attacking talents finally returned for his Bundesliga club on Saturday.
Paredes wasted little time during his first start of the season since recovering from injury. He showed his agility and nous to create Maximilian Arnold's thumping opener for Wolfsburg in the 2-2 draw with Mainz. It was a great way for the 21-year-old, who lit up last summer's Men's Olympics soccer tournament with his U.S. performances, to remind everyone what he is about.
Paredes' compatriot Lennard Maloney was an unused sub for Mainz.
Name: Chris Richards
Club: Crystal Palace
Position: Centre-half
Appearances: 26
Goals: 1
It was a chastening afternoon for Richards as Palace welcomed Bournemouth to Selhurst Park in the Premier League. The centre-back was booked harshly early on, then shown a second yellow card in first-half stoppage time for an equally soft foul to endure the first sending off of his Palace career.
At least his team-mates ground out a goalless draw in his absence.
Richards will now miss the midweek game at Arsenal through suspension, but will hope to regain his place for Saturday's eagerly anticipated trip to Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa.
Name: Gianluca Busio
Club: Venezia
Position: Midfielder
Appearances: 29
Busio is in the middle of a relegation scrap with Venezia in Serie A, and he scored during their 2-2 draw with Empoli on Sunday.
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It was only the second goal of a tough season for the 22-year-old, who hasn't managed any assists either, despite being a regular in the team. The goal ensured a point apiece for both sides from a contest neither could afford to lose. Both are locked on 25 points and linger in the relegation zone, but Venezia sit above Empoli only on goal difference.
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So can Pulisic and Yunus Musah help save — or at least soothe — Milan's season by beating rivals Inter to reach the Coppa Italia final? We're about to find out.
Both Milan clubs go into Wednesday's semi-final second leg stinging from recent defeats. The Rossoneri's turbulent season continued with that reverse to Atalanta, while Inter failed to pull away in the title race by losing 1-0 to Bologna on Sunday. Still, you'd rather be in table-topping Inter's position heading into this high-pressure derby.
Perhaps Pulisic and the rest of Sergio Conceicao's men can cling to the psychological marker of January, when they beat Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana. See what happens in the game at 3pm (Peacock Premium).
Over in the Premier League, might there be a start for Matt Turner for Crystal Palace in their midweek trip to Arsenal? Manager Oliver Glasner has suggested he will rotate his team ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa, and might consider giving England's Dean Henderson a breather (also 3pm, Peacock Premium).
Also on Wednesday, Johnny Cardoso and Real Betis will be in La Liga action against Valladolid (3:30pm, ESPN +), and a win would keep the U.S. midfielder's dream of playing Champions League football with his club next season alive.
After beating Girona 3-1 on Monday, Betis are only a point behind Villarreal in fifth (with the top five in Spain all qualifying for next season's Champions League). Cardoso scored the first goal of that win on Monday.
(Top photos: Getty Images)