Matt Miazga
Who is Matt Miazga?
Matthew Miazga is an American centre-back who plays for Premier League club Chelsea and the United States national team.
In New Jersey, he attended Clifton High School for 12 months before he left and joined the New York Red Bulls Academy back in 2009 at the U14 level.
While with the U16 side, Miazga helped the club win the U.S. Soccer Development Academy National Championship three years later.
In 2013, Miazga had penned a letter of intent to play for the Michigan Wolverines men’s soccer program.
However, after proposals from Europe and the New York Red Bulls, he turned down his scholarship offer to play in college and joined the Red Bulls at the professional level.
On May 30, 2013, it was confirmed Miazga had signed a homegrown deal with the New York Red Bulls.
After strong showings, he considered one of the best defenders in the league and earned MLS team of the week appearances on four occasions throughout the season.
At the end of the term, the Red Bulls offered the player a designated player deal which would have made Miazga one of the highest-paid players on the team.
However, the American snubbed the offer, stating his willingness to play in Europe.
On January 30, 2016, the star joined the Blues on a four-and-a-half-year contract for a reported £3.5 million.
With both Gary Cahill and John Terry injured, Matt made his Chelsea debut starting in a 4–0 Premier League win away to Aston Villa on April 2, 2016.
A few months later, Miazga was loaned to Eredivisie outfit Vitesse for the 2016–17 season, and the loan stint was extended for the 2017–18 campaign.
In 2018, Miazga joined Ligue 1 outfit Nantes on a season-long loan deal. The next year, Miazga joined Championship side Reading until the end of the season after returning from the French club.
After a successful loan stint, Reading decided to loan the centre-back again for the 2019–20 term.
Last year, Miazga joined the Jupiler Pro League giants Anderlecht on loan until the end of the 2020–21 season.
What is Matt Miazga’s international career like?
Internationally, he has represented the United States at U14, U15, U18, U20 and U23 levels.
Matt, who lived with his Polish immigrant parents Elzbieta and Adam in Clifton, also played one game for the Poland U18 team in 2012.
In August and September 2014, he turned down two separate call-ups to the country’s under-20 team.
He quoted previous commitments to the United States U20 team and maintained he hadn’t made a final decision about which nation to represent at the senior level.
Next month, Poland U-20 chief Marcin Dorna stated he hadn’t given up on Miazga and that the Red Bulls star might still play for his team.
Ultimately, the star received his first United States call-up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers games.
He earned his first senior cap versus Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2015.
