The English Premier League has a long history with American goalkeepers. From Kasey Keller to Brad Guzan, there’s been a raft of top-level stoppers. However, while there are American goalkeepers at Premier League clubs as we speak, next season, there could be zero registered to play.
At the time of writing, there are two American goalkeepers attached to first-team squads of Premier League outfits. They are Gabriel Slonina of Chelsea and Matt Turner of Nottingham Forest. The former is still a youngster at twenty and looking to make the breakthrough, while the latter is an experienced thirty-year-old campaigner.
In Slonina’s case, he was a highly sought-after young goalkeeper playing his trade for Chicago Fire in the MLS, a division in which he made over forty senior appearances. Other Premier League teams, such as Wolverhampton Wanderers, were keen to acquire Slonina’s signature, but Chelsea spent the money to take him to West London.
After around a decade of playing in the USA with a variety of teams, Arsenal signed Turner in 2022 from New England Revolution, and he arrived at the Emirates as a backup keeper. However, one year later, he was sold to Nottingham Forest to be the number one at the City Ground for the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
Looking at their current situations and respective futures, it’s highly unlikely that both will be playing in the Premier League next season. Chelsea bought Slonina from Chicago Fire and immediately loaned him back to his former employers. The American then returned and was sent on loan the following season at KAS Eupen in Belgium, where he’s recently returned from.
The next step for Slonina will be another loan spell as the number one goalkeeper so he can continue to develop. It could even be a return to Belgium, where he played over thirty times last season. Slonina is currently with the USA team at the Olympic Games in Paris, so his future will be decided soon after.
As mentioned above, Turner arrived at Nottingham Forest last summer as their new number one. But things quickly unravelled. Football match betting odds were all against Forest, and they were embroiled in a relegation scrap, which saw Turner taken out of the team.
From the start of February onwards, Turner didn’t play in the Premier League, and now he will likely be moved on as the club has already acquired a new keeper in Carlos Miguel, who will compete with Matz Sels for the gloves. Turner is surplus to requirements at the City Ground, and it’s hard to see another top-flight team seeing him as an option to play week in, week out at this stage.
If Chelsea loan Slonina out, which is almost certain to happen, and if Forest dispense of Turner’s services this summer, which they are actively attempting to do according to reports, there will be no American goalkeepers registered to play in the Premier League, for the first portion of 2024/25 at least.
