DeAndre Yedlin Signs With Tottenham After 2014 FIFA World Cup Breakout

DeAndre Yedlin is evidence that there’s no springboard like the FIFA World Cup.

Yedlin, 21, completed a transfer to Premier League Tottenham Hotspur from Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders on Wednesday. Eurosport reports Tottenham paid £2.4 million ($4 million) for the fullback, whose breakout performances for the United States at the 2014 World Cup won him admirers around the world.

Yedlin signed a four-year contract with Tottenham, but he won’t play for Spurs right away. Tottenham loaned Yedlin back to Seattle until next summer, according to a club statement. It’s likely that Yedlin won’t suit up for Tottenham until the start of the 2015-16 season.

Yedlin’s big move is the continuation of a meteoric rise in the professional game. Yedlin graduated from Seattle’s youth system in January 2013 and became an MLS All-Star in his rookie year. Months later, Yedlin then earned a spot on the United States’ 2014 World Cup team, and his performances in Brazil (in three substitute appearances) attracted suitors from around Europe.

Tottenham won the race for Yedlin’s services, and the American fullback now has become the most expensive homegrown player in MLS history. It all could have been different had he been cut from the U.S. World Cup team, as most expected he would be.

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