The last 12 months before a World Cup are an exercise in balancing risk and reward for professional soccer players. Do you play it safe and stick with your current club even if it might result in some stagnation? Or do you take the ultimate risk and move to your dream destination, regardless of the World Cup consequences? Then, there's the third scenario: knowing a switch needs to be made, but being careful about where you land.

It's a dilemma that past and present United States men's national team players have faced. In the last window, Gio Reyna moved to Borussia Monchengladbach ; Matt Turner secured a loan to the New England Revolution , his former club; and Paxten Aaronson turned some heads by leaving Eintracht Frankfurt and landing back in MLS with the Colorado Rap

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