Sebastian Soto can finally begin his career in England, as the USMNT youngster has been granted a work permit to play for Norwich City.
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Soto, 20, signed for the Canaries last summer on a three-year contract but has since been on loan to Telstar in the Netherlands as he couldn’t get a work permit in the UK.
However, Norwich have confirmed that Soto has now arrived at Carrow Road with his loan spell over and the USMNT striker is available to play for the Championship leaders.
Here’s the statement in full from the Canaries, who sit top of the Championship as they aim for an instant return to the Premier League after being relegated in the 2019-20 season.
“Norwich City can confirm that Sebastian Soto has officially been granted a work permit. Soto, 20, spent the first half of the season on loan at Dutch side SC Telstar, scoring seven goals in 12 appearances. The American international will now head to Norfolk and begin training at the Lotus Training Centre.”
Perfect place for Soto to develop
After coming through the ranks at Hannover in Germany, Soto is now ready to kick on and Norwich is the perfect place for him to do that.
Norwich boss Daniel Farke loves to improve young players and the Canaries are a breeding ground for players to move on to bigger Premier League clubs after proving themselves in Norfolk. Ben Godfrey and Jamal Lewis were sold last summer, while Todd Cantwell, Max Aarons and Emiliano Buendia stuck around as Norwich continue to be a proper yo-yo club.
As for Soto, he scored twice within a few minutes of his USMNT debut against Panama in a friendly back in November, and many around the U.S. men’s national team believe he could be a top prospect as a number nine.
If you haven’t seen him play that much, he is a mobile center forward who can make clever runs in-behind but he’s also a forward who loves to get on the end of crosses into the box. Soto showcased that during the USA’s fine run in the U20 World Cup in 2019. The California native recently turned down a call-up for the Chilean national team and is highly-rated by Gregg Berhalter and his coaching staff.
As for his club career, Norwich are pushing for promotion to the Premier League and have Teemu Pukki leading the line, but Soto will get plenty of minutes in the next few months and Pukki is a great poacher to learn from.
It seems highly-likely that Soto will be a Premier League player with Norwich next season.