The USMNT international has signed a deal with St. Pauli, becoming the latest American export to the highest level of German football.
New York City FC has announced a deal to loan midfielder James Sands to German side FC St. Pauli, sending the 24-year-old midfielder to the Bundesliga for the remainder of the 2024/2025 season.
St. Pauli also retains an option to extend the loan through 2025/2026 if certain conditions are met within the next six months. It is Sands' second crack at European football, having previously spent a year with Scottish giants Rangers in the 2022/2023 season.
Sands was the first homegrown player to sign for an emerging NYCFC in 2017, making his debut just a month after his 17th birthday. He was part of the NYCFC team that won the 2021 MLS Cup. The New York native made his senior debut for the national team that same year and represented the USMNT 13 times.
“We are very pleased for James that he has earned this opportunity to play for a fantastic club in the Bundesliga,” NYCFC sporting director David Lee said in announcing the news.
“When James returned from his loan spell at Rangers in 2023, he was always clear that he wanted the opportunity to return to Europe in the future and we agreed to support those ambitions at the right time. This is an incredible opportunity for James to play in one of the top five European leagues.”
Another USMNT representative in Germany
Ties between the United States and Germany are widespread in the soccer world, and Sands is the latest player to move from the former to the latter. Young midfielder Giovanni Reyna joined Borussia Dortmund in 2019 and went on to make over 100 appearances for the German giants. He followed in the footsteps of USMNT teammate Christian Pulisic, who spent four successful years at Signal Iduna Park before being picked up by Chelsea.
Many of the USMNT's most celebrated players have played in Germany during their careers. The likes of Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley and Brian McBride spent time in the Bundesliga. Five of the top seven USMNT goal scorers ever played in Germany.
Following a rich tradition, Sands joins St. Pauli after a quietly impressive season for NYCFC. He started 33 of his team's 38 regular season and postseason MLS matches, most notably scoring a dramatic late leveler in a draw against Inter Miami in September.
He leaves a NYCFC team in a state of flux after parting ways with head coach Nick Cushing. The Englishman had been in charge for two years but had only achieved a winning percentage of 34.29%, not enough to satisfy the club's ownership at the ambitious City Football Group.
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