What American is on Barca's radar? 🇪🇸; 'American Julian Nagelsmann' Coming Home 🇩🇪

Is Johnny Barca Bound?

Born in New Jersey, but raised in Brazil by Brazilian parents, steady-but-skilled Real Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso 🇪🇸 could almost be seen as the footballing amalgamation of 90’s Los Verdiblancos stars Tab Ramos (USMNT midfield great) and Denilson — the skill-soaked Brazilian forward who starred in arguably the greatest football commercial ever made: Nike’s “Seleção in the Airport” spot, produced for the 1998 World Cup.

If the first four months of Johnny’s Betis career are any indication, however, the 22-year-old American international is on an early trajectory that may see him eclipse the European careers of both players.

Having started all but one of the 14 matches he’s played in since joining Betis in January — with one goal and two assists along the way — Cardoso’s steady, intelligent play has made him nearly indispensable in a holding midfield role for the LaLiga side. But perhaps his best performance of the season came in El Glorioso’s 1-1 draw in the “El Gran Derbi” with Sevilla on Sunday. 

In that pressure cooker of a match at Estadio Benito Villamarín, Johnny completed 28 of 32 passes (88%) while winning 10 of 14 duels, ultimately playing well enough overall to earn a 9 out of 10 rating from El Desmarque, who had this to say about his performance:

“What a footballer Betis has found. He's 22 years old and looks like he's been playing this all his life. What a projection. How much talent. Today he gave a hierarchy masterclass. Some kind of knowing how to be. He only lost (four) duels throughout the game.”

Football writers aren’t the only ones paying close attention to Cardoso’s rapid development, however, as Spanish newspaper Diario de Sevilla is reporting that Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Dortmund — as well as clubs in the Premier League and Serie A — have all shown interest in a potential transfer for the young USMNT midfielder. 

In the meantime, Real Betis are just two points out of the European places in LaLiga with five matches left to play, meaning there’s plenty for Johnny to focus on on the club front over the rest of the season. And then looking ahead to this summer, there’s every chance that the kid from Denville, N.J. could play a crucial role in the U.S. midfield during this summer’s vital Copa America, as the ACL injury suffered by right back Sergiño Dest could very well pull normal starters like Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, or Tim Weah out of their roles higher up the pitch and back into defense, making space for Cardoso as a midfield replacement.

Either way, here’s to easily the greatest Tab Ramos-Denilson mashup American soccer has ever seen.

News and Notes:

• Tough news out of the Netherlands, as Sergiño Dest 🇳🇱 (23; Almere, NED) confirmed that he has suffered a torn ACL, and that he’s set to undergo surgery, which will keep him out “a long period of time.” Courage and Big Love to the Human Highlight Reel. We know you will be back on the pitch soon, fitter and stronger than ever before. ❤️💪 

• All hail Paxten Aaronson 🇳🇱 — a.k.a. Medford Marco van Basten — as the 20-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt loanee had a brace in Vitesse’s 3-2 win over Fortuna Sittard on Sunday (Watch). The USMNT winger now has an impressive four goals in 11 appearances for the Eredivisie side.

• After more than two months away due to injury, Taylor Booth 🇳🇱 (22; Eden, UT) returned to action as a 73’ sub in FC Utrecht’s 2-2 draw at RKC Waalwijk.

• Friendly Eredivisie Reminder: PSV USA 🇳🇱 can take the league title at home with a win or a draw against Sparta Rotterdam on Saturday (12:15 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Eindhoven club would also clinch with a loss if Feyenoord lose later in the day against PEC Zwolle.

• With his goal on Tuesday in Coventry City’s 2-1 loss to Ipswich Town (Watch), Haji Wright 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (26; Los Angeles, CA) now has 19 goals in all competitions, the most by a USMNT player in England’s top two tiers since Clint Dempsey in 2011-12. Wright’s 16 league goals also put him level with Josh Sargent 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 heading into Saturday’s final matchday of the Championship season. American-in-England Golden Boot on the line.

• Gio Reyna 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (21; Bedford, NY) was a 74’ sub in Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 loss to Man City in Sunday’s Reyna Family Derby.

• With their 5-1 loss at Newcastle, Auston Trusty 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (25; Media, PA) and Sheffield United were officially relegated from the Premier League on Saturday. Still, 25 starts and counting for the Philly Lad in his first-ever Premier League season is not a bad year at all. Here’s to hoping for a quick return for Trusty and the Blades.

• Serie US-A Bowl II 🇮🇹 between Juventus and AC Milan on Saturday wound up a scoreless draw. USMNT stars Puli, Wes, Weah, and Musah all showed up on the pitch, and caught a hang after.

• Folarin Balogun 🇫🇷 (22; London, ENG) had an assist in AS Monaco’s 3-2 loss at Olympique Lyon (Watch). Balo now has seven goals and four assists in Ligue 1 this season.

• American Coaches Abroad Update: Jesse Marsch is reportedly one of three final candidates to replace Jürgen Klinsmann as head coach of South Korea.

• Rokas Pukstas 🇭🇷 had a brace (Watch: 1st | 2nd) in Hajduk Split’s 5-1 win against Rudes on Saturday. The 19-year-old from Stillwater, Okla. now has seven goals this season.

• Emmanuel Sabbi 🇫🇷 (26; Columbus, OH) had a clever assist in Le Havre’s 3-3 draw at PSG (Watch). Le Club Doyen are above the relegation zone on goal differential only, with three matches left to play in the Ligue 1 season.

• One for the good people of Bear, Del.: Here’s a lovely video of Mark McKenzie 🇧🇪 dancing with Genk fans. De Smurfen are in fourth place in the Belgian top flight, with the 25-year-old USMNT center back having played all but six minutes of the 27 league matches he’s started this season.

Parting Shots:

Currently atop the 2. Bundesliga with two matches left to play, Fabian Hürzeler 🇩🇪 and FC St. Pauli can clinch promotion to the German top flight with a win in either of their remaining games. The 31-year-old manager born in Houston to a Swiss dentist and a German mother has generated massive buzz in Europe, even earning the nickname “American Julian Nageslmann” over the course of his time with St. Pauli, which is what happens when you average 2.13 points per game over 53 matches in charge.

Despite his early success as a first-time manager, Hürzeler told Goal.com that his own goal is to stay grounded amidst the hype.

“I have to stay humble. I have to go on my own way. I still have a lot of things to learn. … It's very important that I go on my own, that I try to reflect on my own, and that I go my own way because I can't be the same as Julian Nagelsmann. He went one way, but I'm trying to go the Fabian Hurzeler way. If I can be as successful as Nagelsmann, I will be happy."

Hürzeler also confirmed that once the season is over, he will spend time in the U.S., watching this summer’s Copa America and enjoying some time back in a country he has fond memories of.

“I can say that my goal is to fly to the United States this summer and to look a little bit at the Copa America. That's my goal. I try to always go on some holidays there because I just love the country. I love the people. I love the adventure. You always can enjoy that. In former times, when we were young, we always did the holidays with our family there. We'd go get a camping car and we'd drive around different cities. It was amazing. We had amazing, amazing experiences there and I will never forget it.”

It appears that Fußball is coming home.