Report: Kai Wagner seeking move to Europe this January

Philadelphia Union All-Star left back Kai Wagner has again expressed a desire to move to Europe, telling Manuel Veth of Transfermarkt he’d like to move in the January transfer window in a new report published Tuesday.

“I want to make the step to Europe in January,” Wagner was quoting saying in the article. “I want to prove to myself that I can play Europe; I am honest enough to say that I want to do it now. I also want to be closer to the family.”

The 24-year-old told Kicker last November that he was hoping to move to Europe in either the January or July transfer windows in 2021. The Union inked him to a new deal in January, extending him through the 2022 season with a club option for 2023.

Wagner told Veth in the recent report that there are “talks but nothing concrete” for him to make a move this offseason. His value on Transfermrkt has increased from $303,000 to $3.3 million since his acquisition from Würzburger Kickers in February 2019.

“Today, everybody would laugh about the small fee that Tanner paid to sign me,” Wagner told Veth. “At the time, though, it was a difficult step. And I had to jump over my own shadow. But the talks with Ernst Tanner and head coach Jim Curtin helped me make my decision, and once I knew that my family was on board, the decision [to move to MLS] was made very quickly.”