American Players Abroad

The New England Revolution said farewell to Esmir Bajraktarevic and signed fellow forward Luis Diaz on Thursday.

The Revs transferred Bajraktarevic, 19, to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven for an undisclosed fee after three MLS seasons. New England retained a percentage of the homegrown player's future sell-on rights.

Bajraktarevic appeared in 45 matches (28 starts) from 2022-24, contributing three goals and three assists.

Injury issues continue to plague AC Milan with leading scorer Christian Pulisic now out of Sunday's Serie A clash against AS Roma after a setback during his recovery, coach Paulo Fonseca said.

"I expected to have Pulisic. He is fine, he has recovered from his calf problem, but in the last two days he has had an ankle problem," the coach said about the U.S. international.

"It has arisen in the recovery process and he is not ready to play tomorrow, not even for the bench."

Pulisic injury setback

U.S. men’s national team star Weston McKennie is having yet another remarkable season with Juventus, scoring his fourth goal of the season for the Serie A giants in their battle to climb up the league table.

Watch: Weston McKennie goal vs. Monza

Celtic defeated Rangers on penalties in the Scottish League Cup on Sunday and can thank United States men’s national team defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Carter-Vickers, who will turn 27 on New Year’s Eve, has had his ups and downs this season. On Sunday he had one of his highlights of the season as he somehow stopped a Rangers counterattack despite being outnumbered four-to-one.

Welcome to this week’s edition of USMNT Abroad, where we bring you the latest updates on American soccer players making waves across Europe. 

From standout performances to key transfers, rumors and injury reports, The18 has got you covered with all the action involving U.S. men’s national team players in Europe’s top leagues. 

C’mon, you yanks!

USMNT Abroad this weekend: The latest on American players in Europe

Christian Pulisic (AC Milan)

A fantastic Weston McKennie goal vs Man City in the Champions League on Wednesday gave Juventus breathing space in a big 2-0 victory at home.

McKennie came on as a substitute against City, making his first appearance for Juve since Nov. 23. The American midfielder was out due to muscle fatigue.

He marked his return to the field with a literal bang as he and fellow American Timothy Weah combined for a glorious goal in the 75th minute to double their team’s lead.

Weston McKennie goal vs Man City

The latest Christian Pulisic injury update will disappoint AC Milan and United States men’s national team fans as the star forward has sustained a torn right calf. The tear is low-grade, but Pulisic will be out for 3-4 weeks.

Pulisic won’t play soccer again until 2025. That sounds bad until you remember that 2024 will be over in literally three weeks. We had a good laugh at how many news outlets made dramatic headlines of “PULISIC OUT FOR THE YEAR!” when the year is about to end.

Clickbait at its finest. We’re guilty of it too from time to time.

The Christian Pulisic injury vs Atalanta on Friday has United States men’s national team fans concerned after the American star was forced to exit the game in the first half.

Pulisic has had a litany of injuries in his career but has had a great streak of being healthy lately. Most of his injuries happened during his time with Chelsea. Since joining Milan at the start of the 2023-24 season, the 26-year-old has only missed two games with the club due to injury.