Josh Sargent and Werder Bremen are headed for 2.Bundesliga, but it’s likely only one of the two parties get there.
According to reports, the 21-year-old American striker is one of several Bremen players who could be sold to generate funds and the highest-profile suitor is the team that banished the Bundesliga mainstays to the second-tier.
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That’s Borussia Monchengladbach, though Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen would represent a Europa League squad and Stuttgart would put him under the tutelage of an American coach in Pellegrino Matarazzo.
Sargent could net Bremen an eight-figure transfer fee after scoring five Bundesliga goals with two assists in 32 appearances, pitching in two goals and an assist in the German Cup.
Bremen made a great escape of sorts last season but suffered a tremendous collapse at the end of this season tumbling from 11th to 17th by taking just one point in its final 10 league matches.
The season brought his Bundesliga outlay to 13 goals and nine assists in 81 appearances, very respectable for a player his age on a team which has not had a lot of the ball and has largely asked him to press and pester.
Case-in-point: Sargent’s 5.82 expected goals in Bundesliga play led Bremen, as did his 3.81 expected assists (Understat). Those totals put him 40th in the league for xG and 45th in xA.
Sargent also has five goals in 13 caps for the USMNT as well.
This is a player who could benefit greatly from a more targeted role in a more skilled team, and keep an eye on Milot Rashica who had been linked with Liverpool and Aston Villa over the course of the season.