Because he might want to play for Germany: former Bayern Munich player Landon Donovan wants to ban a Bundesliga player from the US national team

Noahkai Banks

Noahkai Banks is eligible to play for both Germany and the USA. The fact that he has pulled out of the World Cup hosts’ current training camp has Landon Donovan fuming.

If US record international Landon Donovan (44) has his way, Bundesliga professional Noahkai Banks (19, FC Augsburg) will no longer wear the United States jersey. The former FC Bayern and Bayer Leverkusen forward is angry because Banks has turned down an invitation from US national team manager Mauricio Pochettino for the current international break, which includes friendlies against Belgium and Portugal.

Banks has been playing for US youth teams for years and is currently a member of the U20 national side. In September, he was included in the senior national team squad for the first time, though he did not feature in the friendly against Japan. Pochettino subsequently did not call up the teenager for the friendlies in September and October. This time, however, the Argentine selected Banks, who declined the call-up.

Donovan is annoyed by this; on the ‘Unfiltered Soccer Podcast’ with his former teammate Tim Howard, he called for consequences: “From the association’s perspective, particularly that of Matt Crocker (Technical Director of the US Soccer Federation, ed.), who makes these decisions: if there’s someone who doesn’t want to play for their country – then goodbye! See you later!”

The 157-time international Donovan went on to say, referring to Banks: "I’m not angry with him. He’s entitled to make his own decisions. But I’m not interested anymore. If he doesn’t want to play for the USA, okay, fair enough!"

FC Augsburg v 1. FC Köln - Bundesliga

Noahkai Banks was born in Honolulu

Banks is regarded as a major talent in central defence. FC Augsburg think highly of him; he is now a first-team regular and has made 22 appearances for the Fuggerstadt side this season. Banks was born in Honolulu to a German mother and an American father. He moved to Germany at the age of eight and joined the FCA youth academy from TSV Dietmannsried in 2015.

His strong performances in the Bundesliga have therefore made Banks an attractive prospect for the USA. However, the 1.93-metre-tall right-footed player is also likely to play for the DFB. And he is hesitating; the upcoming World Cup finals, which will be held in his home country among other places, are not the most convincing argument for him: “I’m still deciding; I know there’s a World Cup coming up. But I have a long career ahead of me, so I don’t want to make it dependent on one tournament.”

There is no news of any concrete efforts by the DFB at this stage, although kicker reported a few weeks ago that he had appeared “on the radar” of U21 national coach Antonio Di Salvo.

Noahkai Banks, USMNT

Landon Donovan: "That's rubbish"

Banks spoke of an “important decision” that he did not want to make on his own, but “with my family and a few people who are important to me. I don’t want to set myself a deadline; I’ll take my time and decide calmly.”

If it were up to Landon Donovan, however, that wouldn’t be necessary at all: “If he feels more German, fine. I’ve always said that with a decision like this, you should be guided by passion. It would be clear-cut if he wanted to be part of the US team. He’s been to many training camps, including at youth level. The federation has been courting him for a long time. And it looks as though we’re begging him to play for our country. That’s bullshit.”

Noahkai Banks' statistics as a professional player for FC Augsburg: