Josh Sargent is slated to join Werder Bremen first team next week

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Jan 11, 2018

Josh Sargent has not yet signed a contract with Werder Bremen -- FIFA rules only allow him to be registered when he turns 18 on Feb. 20 -- but the Bundesliga club's head coach,  Florian Kohfeldt, already wants to take a look at him.

#Kohfeldt: "@joshsargent will probably train with the first team one or two times next week. It's been a positive start, but we will give him time to develop." #werder #svwtsg pic.twitter.com/n7nuwnd22U

— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) January 11, 2018

"Josh Sargent will probably train with the first team one or two times next week," Kohfeldt said. "It's been a positive start, but we will give him time to develop."

Sargent joined Werder Bremen's 3. Liga team in Spain for winter training and assisted on the second team's only goal in its 2-1 loss to Dynamo Dresden in Marbella, Spain.

Sargent, 2017 U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year, won the Silver Boot with four goals at the Under-20 World Cup and then scored three more goals at the Under-17 World Cup.

Bremen had the inside track on Sargent before his breakout performance at the U-20 World Cup brought interest from other bigger clubs. Bremen's plan has been to start him out with its second team. Any move to fast-track him to the first team would be surprising, given how short a time he has been in Germany.

Before him, Christian Pulisic was promoted from Borussia Dortmund's youth system in the winter of 2016 and quickly broke into the first team at the age of 17. (He benefited from a Croatian passport that allowed him to sign at 16.) Weston McKennie joined the Schalke 04 first team at the end of his first season, in May 2017.