Ten Americans in Europe that I'd love to see play for the Dynamo, but know it'll never happen

No, these aren't the biggest names in the world American Soccer.  I could sit here and name a bunch of guys we could never afford, and a bunch of guys who'd never come, but this isn't that type of list.This list includes guys that aren't highly priced or that Houston could get when they are out of contract, but I also know that it'll never happen (unless I'm playing FIFA 21).  I don't see some of them coming to MLS, I don't see any of these guys as players that the Dynamo would actually go for, and I'm also aware that MLS re-entry draft rules and Discovery Rights would make it nearly impossible.  But a guy can dream right? 

Please also note that this isn't my Dream 11, or a list of players from anywhere in the globe I'd love to see trampling the turf at BBVA, it's a specific list of a specific set of players. These guys are either young and on the up, or underutilized vets that could have enough left in the tank to help Tab Ramos' squad.  Many of them have played for Tab on the USMNT as youngsters and some are simply intriguing prospects, others would be welcome additions. So without further ado, the nominees go to:

1) Sebastien Soto 

Age - 20 - CF - Norwich - English League 2 - Current Market Value - $550k
Soto has had a tuff go getting to a first team in Europe.  Originally with Hannover '96 in the Bundesliga's second tier, he spent two years on Hannover's youth team despite scoring 17 goals in 24 games for Hannover's U-19 team. Soto moved to Norwich City in England's Championship this summer after his contract with Hannover ran out.  Unable to obtain a work permit, Sebastian went on a short term loan to Telstar in the Netherlands before he was recalled in January. 

Soto scores goals, plain and simple.  In 19 appearances for USMNT, he's scored 15 goals.  At Telstar, he had 7 goals in 12 games (8 starts).  "He's definitely a team-first type player and he's excellent around the box," Ramos told Goal last summer. "When he gets a chance, he puts it away. People just can't do that consistently. You have tons of great players who can't score goals and he can."  With the lack of a #9 of any significance here in Houston, he'd be an amazing fit. Being that Norwich city currently sits 7 points atop the table and look to move into the Premier league next year, it's doubtful Soto could be convinced to make the move, but he would be awesome here. He just signed a 3 year contract with Norwich City, but if the work permit is still on hold, why not put out a loan offer for him through this year?

2) Fabian Johnson

Age - 33 - LM/LB - Free Agent - Current Market Value=$1.1 mil.
Fabian Johnson would be a great addition here.  A solid vet who can still press and make plays.  He can legitimately play 6 positions (LB, RB, LM, RM, CM, CAM) and be an upgrade for us at all 6.  He's a free agent, and would be worth a DP slot.  He's aging, and there's injury concern with Fabian, but he could come here and have a DaMarcus Beasley type ending to his career.  There were rumors he was negotiating with several MLS teams last June, but his contract ran up and he's currently unsigned.  Surely we could use some of that James Harden money and go get him.

3) Timmy Chandler

Age -30- RM/RB - Eintracht Frankfurt - Bundesliga - Germany - Current Market Value=$1.65 mil
Timmy is one of my favorite players of all-time, and a big reason I latched on to Eintracht Frankfurt. The 30 year old has one year remaining on a deal that expires in 2022.  The former USMNT player would be a definite upgrade at RB, and still has plenty left in the tank. Currently a sub for Eintracht Frankfurt and having played only 96 minutes this year, Timmy can still get up and down the sideline, is a good defender, and is an extremely accurate passer both down the field and on crosses.  He's a fan favorite there, and would immediately command a new jersey sale purchased by me, about :37 seconds after he's announced.  He's played Wing Back in Eintracht's primary 3-4-1-2, Right Back and Right Mid in a both a 4-4-2 and a 4-2-3-1, and he's still very good at applying pressure up the pitch and defending from the front.  He can turn defense into offense quickly and went on a brilliant run last year during the second half of the season scoring 6 goals over a five game stretch. Many fans in the U.S. are sour on him from his time on USMNT, but watching him for the last 6 years I have seen him turn in steady performances time and time again.  Being native to Frankfurt, it'd be hard to pry him away, but he doesn't command a big wage and would be a great addition to BBVA.  His contract is also up at the end of the year, so he could make a midseason move here for a playoff push.

4) Jonathan Amon 

Age - 22 - Left Wing - FC Nordsjælland - The Netherlands - Current Market Value=$440k
Jonathan Amon is FAST.  He's got top level speed, is a good ball handler, has a nice first touch and would reek havoc on MLS defenses.  Amon persistently blows by defenders and finds slivers of daylight to create goals.  He has good finishing accuracy going to his right, and will find open teammates in front of the net.  The South Carolina native's contract expires in 2022, and after missing last year with a knee injury he's working his way back into form (returning only a week ago).  He had a goal in his first game back (25 minutes as a substitute), and an assist in his appearance in the Danish Sydbank Pokalean (Sydbank Cup). He has DP level talent, and would be a difference maker with his speed, pressure, and passing.  He has a decent right foot when cutting back inside, but is not a big time goal scorer.  Would be an awesome addition here.

5) Christian Cappis 

Age -20 - Midfielder - Hobro IK - Danish Superliga - Denmark - Current Market Value=$330k
Just so we're clear, Chappis SHOULD BE a Dynamo already. He stiffed #ForeverOrange for FC Frisco, and then when MLS declared the Dynamo owned his discovery rights, he went on trial at Bayern Munich instead. Bayern apparently where interested but didn't have a roster spot so he ended up signing with Hobro IK in Denmark.  I don't know that Chappis would be a superstar, but he's a solid 6 and he's only 21 years old. The left footer would be a great compliment to Mattias Vera with his size (6'1") an defensive capabilities.  He played over 2,000 minutes on 24 starts last year for Hobro IF, and just got his first USMNT call up.  He just signed a 4 year deal with Brondby who sit at the top of the Superliga table, so the chances of him coming here anytime soon are nil. Although he somewhat burned us, I'd still love to see him in Tab Ramos's system.

6) Shaq Moore 

Age - 24 - RB - CD Tenerife - Segunda Division - Spain=Current Market Value - $660,000
Shaq Moore has over 10,000 minutes played as a professional.  His 4,235 minutes on  46 starts over the last two years for Tenerife have been marked with improvement every step of the way.  He's seen time in La Liga, he's started against Lionel Messi at The Bernabeu. He's currently behind a logjam at RB for the USMNT, but is a solid player with good speed and can definitely defend.  He's signed through 2024, but at that market value a transfer shouldn't be out of the question. Moore is young, he's explosive, he gets good reads on the ball, but his deep ball passing and crossing need improvement. Moore was a mainstay for Tab Ramos on the Under-20's, and in the 2015 CONACACAF U-20 Champion team Moore started and played the full 90 in 5 of the 6 games, and started 18 out of 20 games overall in that campaign.  His familiarity with Tab, his athleticism, I'd love to see this happen.

7) Luca de la Torre

Age - 22 - CM - Heracles Almelo (Loan From Fulham) - Eredivisie - Current Market Value - $770k

Luca has had a bear of a time breaking through to the first team at Fulham, managing on 64 minutes in the Championship over his 3 years with the club. One loan to Heracles Almelo, he's finally getting valuable playing time (24 starts, 1700+ minutes played). Posting a goal and two assists, he's really solidified himself on a team that sits square in the middle of the table. The thing that is jumping off the page at people is his ability to take the ball away from people (26 tackles won, 24 interceptions in 24 games), and his 22 fouls drawn. His 86.8% passing leads the team and is currently among the upper echelon of Eredivisie passers (21st overall, only 4 midfielders have a higher percentage). de la Torre was a force on Tab Ramos's U-20 side in the last U-20 World Cup, and it might jump start him to make the full time move here to play for Tab on the club side. His contract runs up next summer, so trying to get him on the end of his contract or on a loan deal until his contract runs out would be ideal.

8) Richy Ledezma 

Age - 20 - CM/CAM - PSV Eindhoven - Eredivisie - Current Market Value - $935k
Ramos believes that Ledezma is one of the best players from a U-20 group that included Josh Sargent, Tim Weah, Chris Richards, and others. Ledezma is a playmaking attacking midfielder who has loads of potential. He had just broken through PSV's first team in November 2020, making 3 appearances over 5 weeks when he tore his ACL 17 minutes into PSV's Europa League match against Omonia Nicosia during the group stage last December. His first Europa League minutes, and his first Europa league start, Ledezma was just finding some traction after a broken foot sidelined him in 2019 before he even made it to the Netherlands. Another person who has intimate knowledge of playing for Ramos, and another signed through 2022, I'd love to see him take over the reigns for Darwin Quintero when Darwin is ready to retire. His long term goal is to play at a Champions League level club in Europe, but I would love to see him in Darwin's role here in Houston.

9) Andrija Novakovich 

Age - 24 - CF - Frosinone Calcio - Italy - Current Market Value - $1.87 mil.
Novakovic is finally realizing potential that he saw as a member of the USMNT U-20's.  His time at Reeding FC was seen with loan deals for 3 straight years, and despite scoring 19 goals in 35 games at Telstar in the Netherland's second flight, he found his way on another loan and eventually to his current home of Frosinone in Italy's second tier.  He wanted to go to Italy, stating that the defense there would help take him to the next level.  He's been really good this year, banging home 7 goals in 1500+ minutes as Frosinone sits in the mid-table of Serie B.  He's big (6'3") is good around the box, and does a good job holding up play and finding teammates.  Also signed through 2022, he should be a player on our radar as we continue to search for a viable #9.

10) Isaiah Young

Age - 22 RW/LW/CF - Rot-Weiss Essen - Regionalliga West (Germany) Current Market Value=$165k
Young is an explosive athlete and an interesting prospect. He's never played higher than the second division, which he did in 2019/2020 for Belgium's Union SG. He only played just over 500 minutes the entire year there, but has had a re-emergence of sorts this year and is playing well for German 4th Division side Rot-Weiss Essen. That might not post wow-factor, but he put in good performances in the DFB Pokal against Fortuna Dusseldorf (2nd Division), Bayer Leverkusen (1st Division), and Holstein Kiel (Second Division). Young was in the starting 11 in all three games, and was a constant threat on the pitch and Rot Weiss Essen took down two much bigger clubs before finally succumbing to Kiel. He started off his career with a bang, scoring 3 goals in his first 8 starts for Werder Bremen' U-19 side in the U-19 Bundesliga, but his production has really fallen off over the last several years and he just hasn't been able to make the Jump. He had 2 goals and 7 assists in 1700+ Minutes in 17/18 for Werder Bremen's II side, and so far this year has a goal and 3 assists in just over 1000 minutes played. While his athleticism is intriguing, his work rate and skill level both need some improvement. He'd be a project and most likely wouldn't make an immediate impact in the squad, but the former stalwart on the US U-19's could be a low risk - high reward type investment.

Others worth noting:

Mason Judge - 18 - CB - Eintracht Frankfurt - Bundesliga - Current Market Value=Unranked.

Joe Scally - 18 - RB - Borussia Mönchengladbach - Bundesliga -Current Market Value=$2.2 mil

Alex Mendez - 20 - CM/CAM - Ajax - Eredivisie - Current Market Value=$550k

Julian Green - 25 - CM/CAM - SpVGG Greuther Furth - 2. Bundesliga - Current Market Value=$1.1 mil

*Editor's note, I could name about 20 more kids in the Bundesliga I'm excited about, but this is where I'll end my list.*

Thoughts?  Anyone you'd like to see on this list?  Feel free to comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Brian