USMNT’s Luca de la Torre Secures Transfer to La Liga’s Celta Vigo

Another U.S. men’s national team player is on the move in hopes of bettering his club situation before the 2022 World Cup.

Midfielder Luca de la Torre has left Heracles in the Netherlands for La Liga’s Celta Vigo, securing a transfer for a reported $2 million, according to ESPN and Marca. The club confirmed his transfer on Friday. De la Torre had emerged as a regular for Heracles, which was relegated from the Eredivisie last season, so to avoid preparing for a likely trip to the World Cup in a second-tier league, the former Fulham youth product made his move. He is signed on a four-year deal, which runs right up to the 2026 World Cup the U.S. is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada.

De la Torre, 24, has been a fast-charger in the U.S. player pool, rising up the depth chart in midfield with a series of impressive performances at the end of World Cup qualifying. He also showed well in the camp last month that featured two friendlies and two Concacaf Nations League games and has positioned himself for one of the 26 tickets to Qatar. He’ll join a fellow U.S. midfielder in Yunus Musah in Spain’s top flight, with Celta and Musah’s Valencia set to meet on Sept. 18, the day before the U.S. congregates for its final pre-World Cup camp.

The transfer will be the latest in what’s been a busy summer for U.S. players on the go. On the national-team level, Tyler Adams left RB Leipzig for Leeds United, where he joined ex-Salzburg standout Brenden Aaronson. Jordan Pefok parlayed a golden boot-winning campaign in Switzerland with Young Boys to the Bundesliga’s Union Berlin. All three of the U.S.’s top goalkeepers have new clubs, as Matt Turner left the New England Revolution for Arsenal, while Zack Steffen (Man City to Middlesbrough) and Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest to Luton Town) are dropping down a league to go on loan.

As for de la Torre, he joins a side that finished a mid-table 11th in La Liga last season and is managed by Eduardo Coudet, who briefly played in the U.S. over a decade ago for the Philadelphia Union and Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Among de la Torre’s new teammates are Mexican veteran Orbelín Pineda and Spanish striker Iago Aspas.