Tyler Adams ‘was in London’ for Chelsea transfer before ‘one thing’ cost midfielder move to join USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge

In the summer of 2023, the United States international was preparing to sever ties with Leeds on the back of their relegation out of the Premier League. Having proven himself in the English top-flight, a switch to Stamford Bridge was speculated on.

Pochettino wanted to bring in a player that he is now working with at international level, but saw unfortunate injury problems scupper those plans. Adams was all set to sign, but ended up leaving London and heading to the south coast at Bournemouth in a £23 million ($30m) deal.

Adams has told FIFA’s official website of how close he came to joining the Blues: “I was very close. I was in London ready for the move to happen but some things fell through one way (or the other). A lot of people have to sign off on certain things for a transfer to happen and one thing fell through so they went with other options. So I ended up at Bournemouth, which I couldn't be more happy about now.”

Adams is now playing under Pochettino and believes the Argentine tactician is the right man to lead the U.S. towards a home World Cup in 2026. He added: “I think that he is going to bring a level of respect and belief in our team. Obviously, his resume speaks for itself and he's been able to establish so much success at different clubs.

“Now being able to work with the national team and the talent pool we have, I think he's going to bring a winning culture and a winning mentality. I'm really excited about that. The way that he speaks about the game and what he views for our game in the future are also positive. As a fairly young team, it's important that we start to work towards those beliefs and create that culture.”

Pochettino has endured an early setback in his USMNT reign, having seen them suffer a shock defeat to Panama in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals, but still has enough talent at his disposal to suggest that a positive impact can be made at FIFA’s flagship event next summer.