Usually, the summer transfer window can be a time to look forward to reviewing possible new players coming in and different fits for how they could work with their teams. Unless you’re a masochist, that is. Looking at the moves that American players have made between clubs, there are some stellar ones that have worked out to alter the future of the United States men’s national team for the better. Things like Christian Pulisic to Borussia Dortmund and Clint Dempsey to Fulham come to mind there.
There’s also a laundry list of failed American moves that have happened, and that’s the sphere that we’re going to take a look at. What are some of the worst transfers ever made by American soccer players? Strap in because this list is a doozy.
5. Sebastian Soto to Norwich City (2023)
This is a bit of a deep cut, but Sebastian Soto’s move to Norwich was an odd one. Although he was a talented player, this was when work permits were becoming harder to come by in England. Soto made the move on a free transfer from Hannover with the goal of being loaned out to qualify for an English work permit, which never came. After that happening when he was 20, he has now been to four different clubs in four different countries and is currently without a club after his contract with Austria Klangenfurt has expired. Only 24, there’s still time for his career to get back on track, but moving to actually stick at Norwich could’ve made quite a difference, not only in Soto’s career but in Josh Sargent, who also just left Norwich, too.
4. Matt Turner to Arsenal (2022)
Following in the footsteps of Zack Steffen, who went to Manchester City as a backup, Matt Turner made the move to Arsenal to become a backup goalkeeper, departing the New England Revolution. On paper this seemed okay, since he would at least get to play in Cup matches to keep him fresh for the USMNT, and there’d be plenty of rotation, but that’s not what happened. Turner only went on to play seven total matches for Arsenal between the Europa League and FA Cup before then moving to Nottingham Forest, which is another strange move. Turner technically could have three separate moves on this list as since leaving the Revolution, he has only featured in 24 total games of soccer in England. It’s impressive that he has kept hold of the number one shirt for the USMNT for as long as he has after playing in such a low number of matches, but that could change for the 2026 World Cup if he doesn’t get regular playing time.
3. Ricardo Pepi to Augsburg (2022)
Ricardo Pepi’s move from FC Dallas to the Bundesliga shows that not all strange moves can end up as career-ending ones, but this certainly was a weird one, leaving FC Dallas for a squad in the relegation zone. He made 16 appearances for Augsburg in his time with the club before being sent on loan to FC Groningen. That spell did enough to catch the eye of PSV, where Pepi has now been handed the number nine jersey and will have big expectations this season, which is a sign of his own drive to push through a difficult adjustment to Europe and come out better from it.
2. Jozy Altidore to Sunderland (2013)
What if Jozy Altidore never left the Netherlands? At the top of his game with AZ Alkmaar, Altidore made the move to the Premier League to join Sunderland. In two years with the Black Cats, Altidore made 42 Premier League appearances, scoring only one goal, after scoring 50 goals in 93 appearances for AZ in the Dutch top flight. Altidore would get back to his best with Toronto FC in Major League Soccer, but at the peak of his career, those Sunderland years were lost ones.
1. Freddy Adu to Benfica (2007)
Storming onto the scene, Freddy Adu looked like the next great hope of American soccer after signing with D.C. United in 2004 at 14. He’d go on to make his debut for the club and score his first goal in that same year, while even appearing in their 2004 MLS Cup victory. He grew into a starter with D.C. United before then moving to Real Salt Lake, where Benfica came into the picture. The Portuguese club paid $2.1 million for the midfielder while the U.S. U-20 coach at the time, Thomas Rongen, begged his agent not to make the move. That was foreshadowing a time where Adu would only go on to make 21 appearances with the club while being loaned out four times and failing to catch on before coming back to MLS to join the Philadelphia Union in 2011. Adu made 41 appearances for the Union, scoring 10 goals, but between 2004-2018, he was bouncing around the world playing for 13 clubs in nine different countries, a thoroughly disappointing career for a player touted so highly at such a young age.
