Rumor: Will England take the USA out of Yunus Musah?

The Daily Mail has blasted the headline “England confident of pipping (defeating) the United State to Valencia’s teenage star Yunus Musah.” The story has no direct quotes and cites no on-the-record sources, but reports “Sportsmail understands it is Musah’s preference to pursue an international career with England.”

This rumor isn’t one to minimize. Despite appearing in two friendlies for the United States, Musah is not cap tied to the USMNT. He’s eligible to commit to the U.S., England, Italy, and Ghana.

Still, don’t go deleting your last dozen USMNT starting XIs from Twitter yet. The only thing we know is 100% accurate about this reporting is that Musah is a “teenage star.”

Let’s review some reasons to doubt this...

• Without commenting on the industry that is circulating transfer rumors. This whole thing feels planted. We haven’t seen any activity or hints to corroborate the rumor. Granted this could be the start of something new.
• If you’re in the English Soccer Federation and you want Gareth Southgate to look like a failure without having games to make that happen, what do you do? Create some rumors you know won’t come true to make the end result a referendum on the target.
• Musah has a visible path to a USMNT starting XI at this moment. Things will evolve, but the path is much more clear than it would be for England, who have to find the best midfield from 8 or more qualify selections.
• U.S. fans have tracked Musah’s every move on social media and can’t be more hyped about the signals he sent just last week by liking the friendly announcement...

And the signals he sent late last year...

Anything can happen. But, I sure would sleep better if Weston McKennie posted an Instagram story of a virtual Monopoly game with Yunus Musah today.