The long-rumored departure of Erik Palmer-Brown to Europe may be about to finally happen. According to Kristian Dyer of Metro US, the 20-year-old has agreed to a pre-contract with Manchester City and will leave MLS/Sporting Kansas City when his contract expires at the end of the season. The report states that the contract will last for 4.5 years.
The Ohio-native signed a Homegrown Player deal with SKC in 2013 and has been linked with several top clubs in Europe, most notably Juventus. Rumors and reports stated that he would inevitably join the Serie A giants on several occasions, but it never materialized. In 2016, he spent time on loan with FC Porto’s reserve team. According to Dyer, City beat out the likes of PSG, PSV, and Ajax to sign him.
A move to Manchester City is a bit of a head-scratcher for someone who’s already 20 and has very little professional experience. You would have to assume that a long spell with the Man City reserves or a loan spell is on the cards once the move is completed. This situation eerily resembles Matt Miazga’s move to Chelsea in 2016.
EPB has represented the U.S. at several youth levels, including appearing in two U-20 World Cups and serving as team captain in the second in 2017. Hopefully this move is beneficial to him and his chances of making the jump to the senior national team in the future. It will surely be interesting to see how his career progresses from here. Good luck, Erik.