The Guardian releases a list every year of what it dubs the “Next Generation” of promising young players in world football. Americans rarely make the cut and even fewer of them from MLS academies.
This year’s list of 60 players born in 2005 includes two from MLS, with the Seattle Sounders’ Reed Baker-Whiting being the only American.
Curious about how big of a deal that is, I asked an MLS talent evaluator. He told me “It’s a big deal” and estimated there’s probably $500 million worth of future transfers on the list. None of that means there’s an imminent transfer offer coming for Baker-Whiting, but simply being identified, the evaluator told me, effectively puts him on the radars of some of the biggest clubs in the world.