U.S. Youth National Team member Josh Perez made his professional debut on Monday in AC Fiorentina’s 2-4 loss at Inter. Perez entered the game in the 75th minute with Fiorentina trailing by a goal and down a man. 

Perez was deployed as a wingback on the right side as Fiorentina chased for the equalizer. The 18-year-old held his own in his debut as he was asked to cover a lot of ground on the wing. He nearly set up a chance when he dribbled through a pair of defenders, but a tackle at the top of the box stopped his effort. 

Monday was the second time that Perez had made the roster for the Fiorentina first team. He was on the squad for the game last week against Empoli, but he did not appear in the game. Perez signed with Fiorentina in February, shortly after his 18th birthday. He has been one of the standouts of the team’s Primavera side since his arrival. 

Perez’s debut on Monday was a momentous occasion for the teenager from Southern California. Serie A is a remarkably difficult league for young players with limited opportunities to break into the first team. Perez is only one of three teenagers to appear in a Fiorentina game this season. 

Perez will be looking to keep hold of his place in the first team this week when Fiorentina takes on Palermo on Dec. 4. Perez is also set to feature with the Primavera squad on Wednesday against Juventus in the second round of the Italian Cup. 

Serpa joins FC Bari 

U.S. U16 Boys National Team defender Sebastian Serpa announced on twitter that he signed with FC Bari of Italy last week. FC Bari is in the Serie B, the second division of Italian soccer. The club sits in 11th place in the table after 16 weeks. 

Serpa previously played for Weston FC. He appeared in 20 games in Development Academy play for the Florida club. He has also been a regular with the U.S. Youth National Teams over the past few seasons. He was last in with the U.S. Youth National Teams in April when he made the U16 BNT roster for the 2016 Tournament Delle Nazioni. Serpa, from Miami, Florida, was born in 2001, which makes him eligible for the 2017 U17 World Cup. 

According to Peruvian news outlet Libero.PE, Serpa is eligible for four national teams. His father hold Peruvian citizenship while his mother is from Venezuela. His grandparents are from Italy, which helped him land with FC Bari. 

Silly Season

According to a report on Twitter, U.S. Youth National Team midfielder Efrain Alvarez is “being closely monitored by Napoli (Italy), Utrecht (Netherlands), and a plethora of Mexican clubs.” Alvarez is the most promising player in the U.S. pipeline from the 2002 age group, but a move to Europe would be difficult to pull off. 

As John Hilton recently learned from his difficulties with Ajax, the path to Europe is quite cumbersome for U.S. players. Alvarez probably has a long list of suitors from Mexico, but that is nothing new. Mexican clubs have been interested in U.S. prospects for years, and especially those players who are getting a look with the Mexico youth national teams. 

Alvarez’s connection to his coaches at LA Galaxy’s Academy might be enough to keep him in California for the rest of the season, but the foreign clubs will be pushing for his signature soon. 

Lederman back to FC Barcelona 

Earlier this month, ESPNFC reported that Ben Lederman is headed back to FC Barcelona. The teenager spent the last year training with IMG Academy in Florida after FIFA came down hard on Barcelona for illegally registering youth players. 

Lederman was forced to leave the club, but he has acquired a Polish passport through his grandparents, which allows him to return to La Masia. Lederman is expected to join Barcelona’s youth team again when the registration for new players opens in January.