Reports: USMNT’s Sebastian Berhalter leaving Vancouver for Middlesbrough

Sebastian Berhalter, who has made his stripes in North America, both as a member of the United States men's national soccer team in international play and as a seven-year MLS veteran, is set to head across the pond

Multiple reports on Thursday revealed that the Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder is in the final stages of being sent to Middlesbrough, an English Championship side. The club is set to pay in the neighborhood of $2 million in transfer fees to acquire the highly-sought-after player.

Multiple clubs were reportedly in pursuit of Berhalter, whose contract expires at the end of the calendar year.

Berhalter, 25, is the son of Gregg Berhalter, former coach of the USMNT, though the younger Berhalter made his own impact on the club during the most recent World Cup, scoring his second international goal on a rocket of a shot from the corner on a give-and-go against Turkey in group play.

He paired that with an assist vs. Turkey to become the first USMNT player to achieve the goal-assist stat line on the World Cup stage in the modern era.

The MLS vet had previously played for Columbus (2020) and Austin (2021) in his career before joining Vancouver in 2022. This season, he is the team's second-leading goal-scorer, scoring six goals to go along with seven assists, the latter mark being the highest on the team.

For those efforts he has been named an All-Star, though he was held out of the Whitecaps' 4-3 loss to FC Cincinnati Wednesday, likely due to the acquisition negotiations.

--Field Level Media