The Luca de la Torre Transfer Signals a Big Change in US Soccer
Luca de la Torre has transferred to Celta de Vigo in the Spanish La Liga. That news probably makes you feel happy, but if I were to guess it doesn’t necessarily feel groundbreaking.
That is the changing current of US Soccer. Let’s take a step back for a moment and consider that our fourth best center-midfielder has transferred to a mid table squad in La Liga. Take away the fact that Sergino Dest is at Barcelona, or Weston McKennie is at Juventus, or Christian Pulisic is at Chelsea… take away every other player in the USMNT pool and we have a transfer that is incredibly exciting.
A technical player that excels in progression of the ball is joining a technical league where progressing the ball is critically important. A not-critical player for the USMNT is joining a team from the same league as two of the most successful clubs in the history of the sport. For as good as this transfer looks and feels, it’s really nothing special. And that is pretty special in itself.
Luca de la Torre’s transfer to Celta de Vigo makes him the fourth USMNT player in La Liga joining Sergino Dest at Barcelona, Yunus Musah at Valencia, and Matthew Hoppe at Mallorca.
No matter how Luca does at Celta de Vigo or how much playing time he gets or how he performs, this transfer is a signal that the environment of USMNT talent is getting better. We used to be stoked when we had a few players in Europe. Now look around at the top 5 leagues and we are spoiled everywhere. From Christian Pulisic to the abundance of Americans in the German Bundesliga or the emergence of Americans in Italy, things are changing.
Only ten years ago you had to go to Soccer by Ives to see the “Americans Abroad” space to get news on Jozy Altidore and Demarcus Beasley. Now we barely clap for a 24 year old moving from the Dutch Eredivisie to Spain’s La Liga, and that means something very very good for US Soccer fans!