The forward’s move to La Liga didn’t quite pan out as hoped, and he’s off to England’s second tier to try to kick-start his career.
Matthew Hoppe’s late effort to get back into the U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup roster picture will take him to England.
Hoppe has left Mallorca for Middlesbrough in a permanent transfer worth a reported $3.6 million, and he has signed a four-year deal with his new club, where he’ll team up, at least for this season, with on-loan U.S. goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Hoppe broke out at Schalke in the winter of 2021, when, at 19, he became the first American men’s player to register a Bundesliga hat trick. That also ended Schalke’s 30-match winless run in the German top flight and put him firmly on the radar as one to watch for the future. He scored two more goals in the weeks that followed and then another at the end of the season, but Schalke wound up relegated, and he sought a move away. Landing in La Liga—at a club with American ownership—appeared promising on the surface, but Hoppe only appeared in seven matches, playing 169 minutes total, without scoring a goal.
After his Schalke success, he was a significant part of the U.S.’s 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup roster, and his late goal vs. Jamaica sent the U.S. through to the semifinals, but he played just 17 minutes in World Cup qualifying (last October, vs. Costa Rica) and has largely fallen off the U.S. radar since.
There’s still time for a comeback, though, especially with the U.S.’s forward corps in flux. Hoppe joins fellow U.S. forwards Josh Sargent (Norwich) and Daryl Dike (West Brom) in England’s second tier, with the latter now sidelined due to a thigh injury.
Depending on how quickly Hoppe can assimilate at his new club, he could potentially earn a trip to the U.S.’s final pre-World Cup camp, which will be held in late September and include friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia. Regardless, he has at least secured a fresh start for a club career that 18 months ago looked like it was on the fast track for success.
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