England is still very much keeping tabs on the Valencia midfielder, who is in U.S. national team camp this week.
Yunus Musah is one wanted teenager.
The 17-year-old Valencia midfielder, who is currently in his first U.S. men's national team camp, is the subject of a tug of war for his services, with England very much interested in securing his international future.
Musah has represented England on the youth level–though not in official competition–and even captained its U-18 side, but he maintains eligibility for the USA, Italy and Ghana as well. Born in New York, Musah is a rising talent at Valencia, where he's had the opportunity to showcase his skills with the first team this season. He recently scored a highlight-reel goal vs. Getafe and was a standout performer last weekend against Real Madrid.
Those qualities are not going unnoticed by England manager Gareth Southgate, who recently made his feelings about the player clear.
“I know John (McDermott, assistant FA technical director) has spoken with [Musah's] family, and they know where we sit with it,” Southgate said according to the Press Association.
“But also we want to get that balance right of not just pushing him up the age groups quicker than we think is right because we’ve got other boys in the system as well, and we don’t want to promise things that we can’t fulfill.
“It sounds as though he’s going to meet with America this time and experience that. That doesn’t rule him out of being with us moving forward. So, we’ve just got to make sure that the boy and the family know that we think he’s a good player, that he’s on a good trajectory.
“We’re monitoring him. He’s been with us in the last couple of months and we’d very much like his future to be with us.”
Musah has drawn rave reviews from U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter, who said that the USA's courting of the player dates back over a year and a half, and there's a connection to Valencia through U.S. assistant coach Nico Estevez. He praised Musah's quality on the eve of Thursday's friendly vs. Wales, where he could earn his first senior national team cap.
Despite playing on the wing for his Spanish club, Musah, who moved to England from Italy in 2012 and spent time in Arsenal's academy before his move to Valencia, was tipped for a central, box-to-box midfield role by Berhalter. The U.S. coach has long said that recruiting players with multiple national team options is all about creating a desirable environment, and he repeated that sentiment when discussing Musah and forward Sebastian Soto, who has been courted by Chile.
“It comes down to the environment we want to create," Berhalter said last week. "I think that will kind of sell itself. And the other thing is the players that we have are attracting a lot of attention worldwide, so when you speak to Yunus or Sebastian Soto or other players, these guys that are doing these things across the world in soccer are known, and they’re very familiar with these guys.”
“Everyone can see what Christian [Pulisic] is doing on the field, and everyone can see why this guy is a star on the world stage. ‘I can use that platform—the platform of the United States national team, to also be a star.’ … These players are all aware of what’s happening with our player pool.”
That player pool includes players at Champions League winner Bayern Munich, Champions League semifinalist RB Leipzig and perennial European powers like Barcelona, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and more.
"I think with the quality that we're starting to have in our national team, I think it's more attractive for players to want to represent the U.S., and I think that's a huge positive," U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams said this week.
Whether that–in addition to this week in camp plus potential appearances vs. Wales and Panama in the coming days–is strong enough to secure Musah's commitment for the future remains to be seen. The next time he'll likely be able to be called in wouldn't be until the next FIFA window in March, and the only time the U.S. could cap-tie him would be in the June Concacaf Nations League final four, so there's a long way to go in the joust for his allegiance.