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Another U.S. youth international is going to play in MLS.
Steven Goff of The Washington Post reports that striker Jeremy Ebobisse has signed a Generation Adidas contract with America's first division soccer league.
As a Generation Adidas signing, Ebobisse, 19, will be made available at the draft in January in Los Angeles. He is a likely top-five selection. Until then, he is expected to train with D.C. United or the third-division Richmond Kickers. Those squads were the natural options because of their proximity to his home in Bethesda, Md.
The trouble with the MLS acquisition system: Ebobisse has to sit in the chiller until 2017. Stupid. https://t.co/hoMwoHursn
— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) August 15, 2016
For now, Ebobisse could possibly go on loan to a USL squad (probably the Kickers) and play matches while waiting for the SuperDraft. He previously went on trial with Danish Superliga club Sonderjyske (control + c and control + v on that one) and French Ligue 2 side Le Havre (which is managed by Bob Bradley).
Ebobisse didn't catch on with either club, but Sonderjyske's manager had complimentary things to say about him:
"Jeremy is a great guy with a future ahead of him," Haysen stated to local media. "We knew very well that he is a player for the future but we hoped nevertheless that he was a little further since he has also played on the U20 national team."
"But he is clearly one we should watch out for due to his great speed and an amazing explosive force, so if he can get out and play some matches somewhere, he can be really exciting."
Ebobisse has been a key player for the U-20 national team this year and it always seemed fairly unlikely that he would return to Duke. Now his development and fate are in the hands of MLS, a league with an inconsistent, yet improving, track record when it comes to young players.