Haji Wright was not involved in the recent U.S. men’s national team squad but a move to Serie A giants Inter Milan could help the forward get back into the fold for his county.
Haji Wright has been on form in Turkey this year scoring 12 goals in 19 Super Lig appearances for Antalyaspor.
According to the Italian website Tutto Mercato Web, Inter has made contact with the player and there is also interest from other Italian clubs.
Wright has not played in a top-five European league since he played for Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga. A move to Inter could help him claim his place back in the USMNT roster.
Should Haji Wright move to Inter?
At Schalke, Wright made just seven league appearances scoring once. However, since then he has rebuilt his career with Antalyaspor, where in total he has found the back of the net 28 times in 55 games.
Playing in the Turkish league will only get him so far and he needs to prove himself at the highest level if he is to start for the USMNT.
Wright did feature for the Stars and Stripes at the World Cup in Qatar. He featured in all of their games and scored quite a lucky goal against the Netherlands in their round of 16 defeat.
Former USMNT player Alexi Lalas did not agree with Wright’s inclusion and said on Fox Sports “Are you kidding me?! Are you kidding me?! Haji Wright! See, this is the one that gets me p***ed off. I do not understand how Haji Wright is going to the World Cup over (Ricardo) Pepi, over (Jordan) Pefok.”
Wright must prove doubters like Lalas wrong. He will be wanting to lead the line for the USA when they co-host the tournament in 2026 but there is a lot of competition for a starting place.
Who is Haji Wright competing with at the USMNT?
In the most recent squad, Ricardo Pepi and Daryl Dike were included by interim head coach Anthony Hudson. Pepi scored twice in their 7-1 drubbing of Grenada and got the winner in a 1-0 win over El Salvador.
Pepi is currently playing for Groningen in the Eredivisie whilst Dike plays for West Bromwich Albion in the Championship. None of them is playing in the top five leagues in Europe so Wright could put himself ahead of the pack if he can perform in Italy.
However, there could be a newcomer to the USMNT who would be expecting to start. Folarin Balogun who has been scoring for fun at Stade de Reims in Ligue 1 this season has been linked with switching his international allegiance to the USA after he was not selected for the England senior squad.
It remains to be seen where Balogun who is on loan at Reims from Arsenal will be playing next season but he has been linked with some of Europe’s top clubs.
Wright has done very well in Turkey but if he gets the opportunity to play at a higher level, then he must take it. Whoever the next permanent USMNT head coach is, will be far more likely to choose a player who is playing in Serie A rather than the Super Lig.
