Why No US Players Have Lit Up the Premier League?

The English Premier League is home to some of the greatest players from around the world and we have seen plenty of players arrive in England from the United States. However, we are yet to truly see a Premier League star from the US, despite the number of talented American players to feature in the English topflight over the years.

John Harkes was the first American to play for a Premier League club when he came on for Sheffield Wednesday against Nottingham Forest in August 1992. Perhaps the most influential US players have been goalkeepers and Brad Friedel is a good example. Friedel enjoyed a long career in English football playing for Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. The goalkeeper recorded 450 appearances across the four clubs, which is a remarkable statistic and only Tim Howard, another goalkeeper, comes close in terms of matching Friedel in terms of the number of performances.

Howard recorded 132 clean sheets for Manchester United and Everton over a 12-year career and that is a fantastic record, equalling the number of clean sheets recorded by Friedel.

Moving to outfield players and Clint Dempsey was the first American player to score a Premier League hat-trick. The 17 goals he scored for Fulham in 2011/12 campaign are the most scored by an American player in a single Premier League season and Dempsey netted 57 goals and provided 19 assists, which is also a Premier League record for a US player.

It is unlikely we are going to see an American player win the Premier League Golden Boot award any time soon but Gamble Indiana recommends these sports betting apps if you would like to have a wager on who will finish as the Premier League top goal scorer this season.

Brian McBride is another US striker who performed well when playing for Fulham in the Premier League and midfielder Claudio Reyna played in English football with Sunderland and Manchester City, amassing over 100 appearances.

At the time of writing, Christian Pulisic is arguably the best American soccer player in the world and he is on the books of Chelsea. However, despite showing moments of brilliance, Pulisic is yet to really light up the Premier League in the same way Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Bruno Fernandes, Son Heung-min, and Raheem Sterling have managed to in recent years.

Perhaps the main reason why Pulisic has failed to hit the heights of the players highlighted above is due to injury. Muscle injuries have been a huge problem for Pulisic during his time at Stamford Bridge and just when the American International appears to be getting into his stride he is back on the treatment table.

The other US players mentioned in this article were good players but they did not have the skill level of Pulisic. Their lack of flair and creative ability is why they did not light up the Premier League despite giving their clubs great service. Pulisic certainly has the ability to become a leading Premier League player but fitness issues have prevented him from reaching his full potential.