The announcement of the European Super League shocked the world of soccer. Despite it was an idea that has beendiscussed for a long time, all of a sudden most of the greatest clubs have confirmed they would be playing an independent tournament, unattached to the UEFA and FIFA.
These two governing bodies find themselves on the opposite side to this plan that twelve significant teams have encouraged. In the middle of a huge conflict that may change the course of the beautiful game, UEFA’s president, Alexander Ceferin, stated that players from Super Leagueteams won’t be allowed to represent their national teams. That would forbid them to feature in the World Cup, for instance.
This would be a massive blow for those countries whose talents feature in some of the clubs linked to the newcontroversial tournament. The United States National Team relies on a handful of stars who would be concerned by this new rule in case the Super League finally takes place. Check out who are those players here.
Zack Steffen (Manchester City)
The 26-year-old is enjoying his first season being part of the Manchester City squad. Well, he was acquired by the Citizens in 2019, but that year he remained in Columbus Crew and once he moved, Steffen was sent to Fortuna Dusseldorfon loan. In the current campaign, he stayed to be Ederson’s back-upand even made his debutwith City’s first team. Later, Steffen went on to have more games replacing Ederson. He has appeared 11 times this season, keeping a clean sheet in five of them. It would be disappointing for the US to miss such a goalkeeper due to the Super League.
Christian Pulisic (Chelsea)
Arguably the best player in the entire USMNT, Pulisic would probably be the most hurtful loss if the soccer’s governing bodies disallow him to play with his country. Chelsea‘s midfielder has earned a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s squad, who is flying since the German was named in charge of the team. Pulisic is one of the most exciting talents the US National Team has ever had, and his presence in the starting eleven is a must.
Weston McKennie (Juventus)
Juventus are one of the 12 giants involved in the creation of the Super League. McKennie, another thrilling prospect from the USMNT, has charmed the Italian squad in his first months after arriving on loan from Schalke 04. That’s why the ‘Vecchia Signora’ exercised the option to secure him for at least four years. The first American to ever feature in this club, McKennie is alongside Pulisic another key piece in the national team’s midfield. The UEFA rule that bans players from Super League sides to feature with their countries would hit once again to the US with the absence of this talented player.
SergiñoDest (Barcelona)
The exciting right-back who joined Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona for this season has deservedly earned a spot in the Blaugrana lineup. Dest hasonly 20 years of age and already belongs to one of the most important teams in the world likeBarça. The American improved throughout the current campaign up to becoming a starter, being part of the recent success in the Copa del Rey. He is anothergreat talent that the USMNT has at European soccer’stop level. Hopefully, they will continue being able to select him, but it might depend on how the conflict between the Super League and the UEFA develops.