Bundesliga CEO wants more U.S.-born, young Americans in Germany's top flight
I sat down this week with Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert, and we talked about how the Bundesliga has taken over from the Premier League as the European league with the most U.S. national team players. It’s one thing for German-American players to be in Germany, but Seifert said he wants the Bundesliga to continue being a top destination for Americans who grew up on U.S. soil like Christian Pulisic and Bobby Wood.
Seifert thinks young players get more opportunities in the Bundesliga than they do in the Premier League, which is why Pulisic extended his contract with Dortmund through 2020 instead of going to Liverpool.
The U.S.-born youth movement in the Bundesliga is hardly limited to Pulisic and Wood. There are currently three U.S.-born 18-year-olds at Schalke–Haji Wright, Weston McKennie and Nick Taitague–who recently joined the club's first team in training. If Seifert has his way, more will follow.
