Americans abroad
Looking back at Americans abroad 25/26, promotions, relegations, European qualifications
June 05, 2026
5:00 AM
WITH THE FALL-SPRING seasons now complete throughout Europe, we know how all of the Americans players in those leagues fared with a wide range of good, bad, and ugly. The big takeaway is how many of the top national team players are set to play in the Europa League next season while the Champions League is expected to see a significant drop.
Of course, there is the coming summer transfer window which will affect the number of players in European competitions next season. But here are the results based on the previous season.
League Champions
Sergino Dest (PSV Eindhoven): Netherlands Eredivisie
Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven): Netherlands Eredivisie
Auston Trusty (Celtic): Scottish Premiership
Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic): Scottish Premiership
Samuel Adeniran (LASK): Austrian Bundesliga
George Bello (LASK): Austrian Bundesliga
Haji Wright (Coventry): English Championship
Gianluca Busio (Venezia): Serie B
Champions League, League Phase
Sergino Dest (PSV Eindhoven): Eredivisie winner
Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven): Eredivisie winner
Alex Freeman (Villarreal): 3rd place LaLiga
Johnny Cardoso (Atletico Madrid): 4th place LaLiga
Mathis Albert (Borussia Dortmund): 2nd in Bundesliga

Champions League Qualifying
Auston Trusty (Celtic): Scottish Premiership. Enters into the Playoff Phase.
Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic): Scottish Premiership. Enters into the Playoff Phase.
Samuel Adeniran (LASK): Austrian Bundesliga. Enters into the Playoff phase.
George Bello (LASK): Austrian Bundesliga. Enters into Playoff phase.
Tanner Tessmann (Lyon): 4th place Ligue 1. Enters into the Third Qualifying Round
Europa League
Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth): 6th place finish in Premier League
Chris Richards (Crystal Palace): Conference League champions
Christian Pulisic (AC Milan): 5th place in Serie A
Weston McKennie (Juventus): 6th place in Serie A
Tim Weah (Marseille): 5th in Ligue 1
Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen): 6th in the Bundesliga
Cole Campbell (Hoffenheim): 5th in the Bundesliga
- Campbell spent season on loan from Borussia Dortmund. No announcement has been made regarding his future.
Pellegrino Matarazzo (Real Sociedad, head coach): Copa del Rey winner
Europa League Qualifying
Rokas Pukstas (Hajduk Split): 2nd in Croatian HNL. Enters in First Qualifying Round
Taylor Booth (FC Twente): 4th in the Eredivisie. Enters in Second Qualifying Round
Leon Flach (Jagiellonia Bialystok): 3rd in the Polish Ekstraklassa. Enters in Third Qualifying Round
Conference League Qualifying
Folarin Balogun (Monaco): 7th in Ligue 1. Enters in Playoff Round
Fabian Hurzeler (Bright & Hove Albion, head coach): 7th in the Premier League. Enters in Playoff Round
Erik Palmer Brown (Panathinaikos): 4th in Greece Super League. Enters in Second Qualification round
Yunus Musah (Atalanta): 7th in Serie A. Enters in Playoff Round
- Musah’s loan from AC Milan concluded at the end of the season
Promotion
Gianluca Busio (Venezia): Serie B to Serie A
Haji Wright (Coventry): Championship to the Premier League
Santiago Castaneda (Paderborn): 2.Bundesliga to Bundesliga
Niel Pierre (Lyngby): Danish 1.Division to Superliga
- Pierre’s loan from Philadelphia concluded following the season
Relegation
Scott Pittman (Livingston): Scottish Premiership to Scottish Championship
Andrija Novakovich (Reggiana): Serie B to Serie C
Jonathan Amon (Vejle Boldklub): Danish Superliga to 1.Division
Jordan Pefok (Tondela): Portguese Primeira Liga to Liga Portugal 2
- Pefok returned to Stade de Reims following the season
Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg): Bundesliga to 2.Bundesliga
- Paredes left Wolfsburg following the season and is a free agent
James Sands (St. Pauli): Bundesliga to 2.Bundesliga
- Sands concluded his loan from New York City following the season
Eduvie Ikoba (Kazincbarcikai SC): Hungary’s NB I to NB II.



