Former USMNT man feels Lamine Yamal has competition from American future Man City star

Former USMNT player Brad Friedel has agreed that a future Manchester City star could be America’s answer to Lamine Yamal, but has urged caution in expecting too much.

America has produced some increasingly good footballers in recent years. However, none have become icons of the game like other countries have produced.

The most prodigious talent in recent years is perhaps Christian Pulisic, who has played in three top European leagues – currently with AC Milan in Serie A, where he was directly involved in 22 goals last season.

But there is a lot of expectation on 15-year-old Philadelphia Union star Cavan Sullivan, who has played 10 times in the MLS in 2025, where he is playing on a record contract for a homegrown player, before a move to Manchester City when he turns 18.

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To consistently play senior football at such a young age highlights Sullivan as a prodigious talent, and asked if he’s America’s answer to 18-year-old Barcelona regular Yamal, Friedel thinks he could well be.

He told GOAL: “At the moment, yeah. I’m really a walk before you can run kind of guy. Bags of talent, without a doubt. I’m more of the mould of let’s not put too much pressure on anybody at that age.

“As developed as they can be as a player, emotionally and socially, everyone at that age has work to do and has to experience things in their life. Pressure generally is not something that bodes well for young, outstanding players.

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“Is he an incredible talent? 100 per cent he’s an incredible talent. I wish, and it’s really difficult with social media today, there would be a lot less about him out there. I wish there was a lot less out there and just let the kid play and develop, but that’s not how the world works right now.

“Hopefully he can deal with it really well. My understanding is that he has a really good group of people around him. Let’s see what happens. He could be a very, very special player.”

Sullivan is yet to score or assist in senior football, but his statistics at academy level show it’s likely coming, and at 15, he still has a lot of time to develop, potentially faster than most others at his age.

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