The USMNT' Next Gen isn't an MLS product... or at least not completely

The United States team is made of young players from the best leagues in the world. The Next Gen of the USMNT looks like a golden generation just about to explode in the near future. That time may come in 2022 Qatar World Cup or maybe later, in the 2026 World Cup which the United States will host.

Ten American players aged under 25 were included in their teams' squad to compete in the Champios League in the 2020-2021 season. But there is a curious fact is that eight of them had never played in the MLS and only six of the ten were trained in American academies.

Barcelona's Konrad de la Fuente and Sergiño Dest, Brujas's Ethan Horvath, Chelsea's Christian Pulisic, Borussia Dortmund's Giovanni Reyna, Bayern Munich's Chris Richards, Ajax's Alex Mendez and Juventus's Weston McKennie had never played in the first division of American soccer. Only Red Bull Leipzig's Tyler Adams and Manchester City's Zack Steffen have tested the MLS.

Tyler Admas debuted in 2015, at the age of 16, at New York Red Bull, and played there until 2018 scoring 3 goals and delivering 10 assists in 75 games. Zack Steffen won the MLS in 2017 with Columbus Crew and in 2018 he was elected 'MLS goalkeeper of the year' after registering 10 clean sheets. Steffen signed a contract with Manchester City Football Club in 2019 in exchange for $ 9 million dollars.

Reyna, Richards, Mendez, McKennie, Adams and Steffen had been trained in youth academies of the United States for only a few years. On the other side, De la Fuente, Dest, Horvath and Pulisic hadn't even spent their formation phase in the USA. So it wan't just the MLS which is responsible for the Next Generation.