More USMNT players at Champions League clubs can only improve World Cup prospects

The recently concluded European transfer window has the potential to be a watershed moment for U.S. players. It wasn't so much how many players moved, but where they went. Weston McKennie left Schalke 04 to join Italian giants Juventus, and Sergino Dest completed a transfer from Ajax to Barcelona, amid significant interest from Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

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The moves marked the first time that American players had been transferred to such historic clubs, but to be fair, Americans have been burrowing their way into bigger European teams for a couple of years.

There was Christian Pulisic's transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea in 2019, and Tyler Adams moving from the New York Red Bulls to RB Leipzig the same year. Last season Giovanni Reyna rose through the ranks at Dortmund, and now Chris Richards is doing the same at Bayern Munich. Konrad de la Fuente is on the verge of receiving his first competitive minutes with Barcelona's first team. There's even a U.S. manager involved in this year's Champions League group stage in FC Salzburg's Jesse Marsch.

To get an idea of just how big a shift has taken place, five years ago, Fabian Johnson of Borussia Monchengladbach was the only American player in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. This time around, while not every American is in a starting role, 10 such players have made their way onto Champions League rosters. Eight of the 10 are under the age of 23.

The U.S. men's national team is poised to be the biggest beneficiary. The kind of experience being gained by U.S. players should give manager Gregg Berhalter and his team a deeper well of talent to choose from, and prepare them for World Cup qualifying.

"I will go as far as to say that a mark of any country's potential success is directly related to the amount of players they have competing in the Champions League," Berhalter said. "In those games you either sink or you swim. The game is the great revealer. When you have a guy who can go in there, on that stage, and play and hang in there, they ought to be able to do the same thing in the World Cup, because they are similar types of games."

But even as American players make deeper inroads at the game's elite clubs, the reality is that what has taken place isn't the end, but another step. And it's not enough to simply be on the roster of a great club.

"I think it's great. I understand when that opportunity comes that you have to take it," said former U.S. international and current ESPN analyst Kasey Keller, about the recent transfers. "I understand that then you have to challenge yourself. But it is about minutes and playing time. In the end, it really has to be about: Are these guys playing week in and week out? Are they integral parts of their clubs going forward?"

The other question the development raises is whether this is a signal that the U.S. is doing a better job of developing players, and here, the individual circumstances do vary. Dest (Netherlands) and Konrad (Spain) were developed entirely outside the U.S. system. Others, like Pulisic and Reyna, benefited from obtaining European passports that allowed them to head to Europe at age 16 instead of 18, an age range at which the U.S. system has historically struggled to move players along.

But there are success stories like Adams and Richards, and in recent weeks, more than 40 players eligible for youth national teams have been getting playing time in MLS. All of which hints that in terms of development, incremental steps are the norm as opposed to quantum leaps.

"I think we're gaining momentum in international soccer with some of these moves, and I've said it all along is, this isn't a result of this transfer window," Berhalter said. "This is a result of years and years of work in the developmental space, both by U.S. Soccer with the Development Academy, and then MLS owners, and for them to put all the resources into the infrastructure and the pathway and the coaches." -- Jeff Carlisle

USMNT Stock Watch: Who's up? Who's down?

How are the players Berhalter will be relying upon for World Cup qualifying performing with their clubs? ESPN's correspondents from around the world bring you inside information to help explain the successes and stumbles of American players around the world.