Four Americans. One Championship club. And a purposeful recruitment strategy.
There is a new American accent being heard around Riverside Stadium.
Actually, there are four of them.
With Rokas Pukstas traveling to Teesside to finalize his move from Croatian side Hajduk Split, Middlesbrough are on the verge of becoming home to an extraordinary quartet of American players: Aidan Morris, Sebastian Berhalter, Max Arfsten and Pukstas.
They’re all midfielders, but they are not carbon copies of one another. They play different roles and each arrived through different pathways.
But there is something they share.
All four are products of an American soccer system that Middlesbrough’s recruitment department has increasingly learned to exploit; and all four fit the profile that head coach Kim Hellberg says the club is looking for.
As Hellberg explained recently, Boro aren’t simply looking for any players. They are looking for players with ambition, resilience, a willingness to work and an appetite to immerse themselves in the daily demands of professional football.
In other words, the “Middles-Bros” (or whatever moniker ends up representing this USMNT quartet) aren’t here simply because they are American.
They are here because Middlesbrough believes they are good footballers, who may even become great.
So let’s take a closer look at the 4 American players at Boro.
Aidan Morris
The trailblazer
Position: Midfielder
Born: November 16, 2001, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Route to Boro: Weston FC → Columbus Crew Academy → Indiana University → Columbus Crew → Middlesbrough
USMNT: Senior international
Middlesbrough arrival: 2024
If there is a founding member of the American “Middles-Bros”, it is Aidan Morris. The Fort Lauderdale native established the pathway that the other Americans have subsequently followed.
After joining the Columbus Crew Academy in 2017, Morris spent the 2019 season at Indiana University, starting 21 of 22 matches, scoring twice and leading the Hoosiers with eight assists. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year before returning to Columbus as a Homegrown player in January 2020.
Morris quickly became a trusted midfielder, helping the Crew win MLS Cups in 2020 and 2023. By the time Middlesbrough came calling in 2024, he had made 83 MLS regular-season appearances, including 67 starts, with six goals and 14 assists.
He has since established himself in the USMNT picture, earning 14 senior caps.
Morris is significant to Boro’s American strategy because he was the proof of concept: a young American midfielder developed through MLS who could successfully make the leap into English football.
Boro liked what they saw, and went back to America for more.
Sebastian Berhalter
The midfielder who took the long way around
Position: Midfielder
Born: May 10, 2001, London, England
Hometown: Westerville, Ohio
Route to Boro: Columbus Crew Academy → Columbus Crew → Austin FC → Vancouver Whitecaps → Middlesbrough
USMNT: Senior international
Middlesbrough arrival: August 2026
Sebastian Berhalter has perhaps the most unusual background of the four. Born in London but raised in Ohio, he came through the Columbus Crew Academy, played one season at the University of North Carolina and signed with Columbus as a Homegrown player in 2020.
After a loan spell with Austin FC, Berhalter moved permanently to Vancouver in 2022. Initially viewed primarily as a defensive midfielder, he developed into a much more productive all-around player. By 2025, he had started 41 of 47 matches across all competitions, producing eight goals and 16 assists.
His MLS breakthrough translated to the international stage. Berhalter earned his first USMNT call-up in 2025, helped the United States reach the Concacaf Gold Cup final and was subsequently selected for the 2026 World Cup squad.
Now he follows Morris to Teesside.
Their connection runs deeper than nationality: both are Columbus products, both developed through MLS and both became established midfielders before moving to England.
Berhalter therefore represents another version of the player Middlesbrough wants: young, versatile, ambitious and still developing.
Max Arfsten
The Exciting Wild Card
Position: Left Winger / wing-back
Born: April 19, 2001, Fresno, California
Route to Boro: California Odyssey → UC Davis → San Jose Earthquakes II → Columbus Crew → Middlesbrough
USMNT: Senior international
Middlesbrough arrival: August 2026
Max Arfsten’s journey is perhaps the clearest example of the possibilities within the modern American soccer pathway.
After years with California Odyssey, Arfsten attended UC Davis as a walk-on, earned a scholarship and eventually became a professional prospect. Columbus selected him 14th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.
His MLS debut could hardly have gone better. Entering as a substitute against Atlanta United, Arfsten scored just nine minutes after coming on in a 6-1 Columbus victory.
He went on to become an important Crew player, winning the 2023 MLS Cup and 2024 Leagues Cup. International recognition followed. Arfsten debuted for the USMNT in January 2025, scored his first international goal against Costa Rica and recorded five assists during 2025 — the most by a U.S. men’s international in a calendar year since 2019.
Then came the 2026 World Cup, where he made his debut against Belgium in the Round of 16.
Only weeks later, Arfsten was heading for Middlesbrough.
His story perfectly illustrates Boro’s recruitment model: rapid development, proven performance, international experience and the capacity to keep improving. His defensive chops are still developing, but he is an exciting player going forward, with plenty of room to grow.
Rokas Pukstas
The American who “grew up” playing in Croatia
Position: Midfielder
Born: August 25, 2004, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Route to Boro: Sporting Kansas City → Barça Residency Academy → Hajduk Split → Middlesbrough
US youth international: Yes
Middlesbrough status: Transfer being finalized
Rokas Pukstas may be the most intriguing of the four because his development has followed a very different path.
Born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Pukstas spent time with Sporting Kansas City and the Barça Residency Academy before moving to Croatia and joining Hajduk Split’s academy. He eventually broke into Hajduk’s first team and established himself as an important midfielder.
Unlike Morris, Berhalter and Arfsten, whose development was largely rooted in the American/MLS system, Pukstas has spent several formative years immersed in European football.
His departure from Hajduk Split could hardly have been more dramatic. Middlesbrough agreed a fee worth just over £4.2 million, with Pukstas expected to travel to Teesside to complete the move. In his final game for Hajduk, he scored an extra-time goal in a 3-2 victory over Raków Częstochowa, helping the club reach the main draw of a European competition for the first time in 16 years.
Hajduk manager Gonzalo Garcia said he and Pukstas cried together afterward, calling it the best possible way for the American to leave.
At 22, Pukstas is the youngest of the quartet, and perhaps the one with the greatest remaining development ceiling.
His next classroom is the English Championship.
So why Americans?
Four Americans at one Championship club could easily be dismissed as a fad.
Hellberg’s comments suggest otherwise.
Asked why American players have become so popular at Middlesbrough, the Boro head coach gave an unusually revealing answer.
He pointed first to the club’s success in recruiting from America and MLS. But then he identified something beyond technical ability.
Mindset.
Hellberg said that, in general, these players have a strong mentality, work hard, are eager to improve and are prepared to put almost everything into their football.
Middlesbrough isn’t scouting nationality. It is scouting characteristics.
Hellberg described a recruitment process that examines what players want from their careers and how committed they are to development.
Are they willing to stay at the training ground?
Will they embrace double sessions?
Do they want to spend time in the theory room?
Are they genuinely interested in improving?
Or, as Hellberg put it rather colorfully, are they more interested in “going home on the clock and going to play golf”?
The answer Boro wants is obvious.
They want the player who wants to work.
Hellberg’s comments are important because they reveal that Middlesbrough’s recruitment philosophy extends beyond the player’s current ability.
The club is interested in development potential.
It wants players who see training as an opportunity rather than an obligation.
It wants players who are ambitious enough to accept that becoming better may require uncomfortable amounts of work.
And it still wants footballers who possess the necessary qualities on the pitch.
As Hellberg put it, those are the type of players Middlesbrough has been “aiming for”, alongside their footballing qualities.
Morris was first.
Berhalter followed.
Arfsten arrived fresh from a World Cup.
Now Pukstas is preparing to join them after a dramatic final night in Croatia.
Four Americans.
Four different stories.
One club.
And perhaps the beginning of something bigger.
