Sargent signs first professional contract on his 18th birthday

Josh Sargent’s 18th birthday is one he’ll never forget.

The young American phenom was finally able to sign his first professional contract on Tuesday after turning 18-years old, passing the FIFA threshold for when a foreigner can sign a pro contract. Sargent has been training with Werder Bremen’s youth teams for the last few months and has even trained with the first team and featured for the Werder Bremen U23s.

“We’ve gone over all the formalities and Josh signed his professional contract with us earlier,” Bremen sporting director Frank Baumann said on Tuesday afternoon. “Again, we’re delighted he decided to join us. He’s settled in brilliantly since the turn of the year.”

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Happy eighteenth birthday, @joshsargent! 💚

And you know what that means - he's also signed his professional contract with the Green-Whites! ✍️

📰 https://t.co/r7vaNaWLol #werder pic.twitter.com/rSFEnWleNg

— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) February 20, 2018

Sargent will continue to train with the youth teams and reserves, and will be eligible to feature for the Werder Bremen first team for the 2018-2019 season.