U.S. Men's Team Forward Damion Downs, Who Played At Gold Cup, Joins Southampton

U.S. men’s national team striker Damion Downs has signed with Southampton on a four-year deal, the English Championship side announced on Tuesday.

Multiple reports cited the transfer fee as being close to $9.5 million (£7 million).

Downs was part of Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT squad at the Concacaf Gold Cup, with his big moment coming in the quarterfinal win over Costa Rica. The 6-foot-4 forward converted the decider in the penalty shootout win. 

Downs joins Southampton from German club FC Koln, where he scored 11 goals and helped the team win Germany’s second division and earn a promotion to the Bundesliga. But instead of playing in Germany’s top flight division next year, the 21-year-old forward will now aim to help Southampton get back to the Premier League after being relegated this past season. 

“Obviously promotion is the number one, and for me personally I just want to score as many goals as possible, help the club and help the team,” Downs said. 

Born in Germany, Downs moved to the U.S. as a one-year-old. He moved back to Germany as a nine-year-old where he began to play soccer.  He now has five international appearances for the USMNT, but has yet to score a goal. He was a second-half substitute in the 2-1 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final. 

He’ll now share another connection to Pochettino as the USMNT manager led Southampton during the 2013-14 Premier League season.

“I knew it (that Pochettino managed Southampton), we talked a little bit. He just told me how great the city is, how great the club is and the fans,” Downs said. 

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