Erik Ross Palmer-Brown (born April 24, 1997) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

center-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

and the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

Career

Sporting Kansas City

Palmer-Brown moved to

Lee's Summit, Missouri Lee's Summit is a city located within the counties of Jackson (primarily) and Cass in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2020 census its population was 101,108, making it the sixth-largest city in both ...

when he was 18 months old. He later played one season of high school soccer as a freshman at Lee’s Summit High School in the fall of 2011. He also attended Archbishop O'Hara High School in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. After playing in the

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

, at the age of 16, he signed his first professional contract, making him Sporting Kansas City's youngest ever player. In January 2014,

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

team

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

reportedly made a $1 million bid for Erik Palmer-Brown, which was rejected by Sporting Kansas City. In the same year, Palmer-Brown was voted number 39 on UK website TeamTalk's top 50 Wonderkids in 2014. He made his debut for Sporting Kansas City on May 18, 2014, in a regular season match against Chicago Fire. But it ended prematurely when he was sent off in the 64th minute for a second yellow card after giving away a penalty in the 15th minute in a 2–1 loss.

Porto

On February 1, 2016, Palmer-Brown was loaned to Portuguese club

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

until December 31, 2016. He started regularly in central defense for Porto B, helping them to the

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

title.

Manchester City

Palmer-Brown signed a contract with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. He was immediately loaned to

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

club

KV Kortrijk Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk (often simply called KV Kortrijk or KVK) is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division, and they achieved their best ranking ever during the 2009 ...

until the end of the 2017–18 season.

Loan to NAC Breda

After spending the second half of the 2017–18 season with Kortrijk, Palmer-Brown was loaned to

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

for the 2018–19 season.

Loan to Austria Wien

He then joined

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...

for the 2019–20 season. He extended his loan at Austria Wien for the 2020–21 season.

Loan to Troyes

On August 31, 2021, Palmer-Brown moved to France to join

club

on a season-long loan deal. In February 2022, the deal was made permanent with Palmer-Brown signing a contract until the summer of 2024.

International career

Palmer-Brown has represented the United States at the U-15, U-17, U-18, and U-20 levels. He has made 6 appearances for the U-18 team up to this point, scoring his first goal for the team in a 1–0 win over the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. In 2015, he was called to the roster that played in the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

. As captain, Palmer-Brown won the

2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (26th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in Costa Rica between ...

with the United States. He was awarded the Golden Ball Award by CONCACAF as the best player of the tournament, playing the defensive midfield position. Palmer-Brown then played in central defense for the United States at the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 as ...

, and was named to the Best XI of the Tournament by both Squawka and Scouted Football. On May 28, 2018, Palmer-Brown made his senior national team debut in a 3–0 win against

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Personal life

Palmer-Brown was a student of Archbishop O'Hara High School in

. He was

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 2015.

Career statistics

International

Honors

Sporting Kansas City *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

United States U20 *

CONCACAF Under-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Th ...

Individual *

Best XI:

Golden Ball:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer-Brown, Erik 1997 births Living people American soccer players Association football central defenders American expatriate soccer players People from Napoleon, Ohio Soccer players from Ohio People from Lee's Summit, Missouri United States men's international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Sporting Kansas City players FC Porto B players Sporting Kansas City II players Manchester City F.C. players K.V. Kortrijk players NAC Breda players FK Austria Wien players ES Troyes AC players Soccer players from Missouri Major League Soccer players Liga Portugal 2 players USL Championship players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Homegrown Players (MLS) Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in France American expatriate sportspeople in Portugal American expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate sportspeople in Belgium American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands American expatriate sportspeople in Austria American expatriate sportspeople in France African-American Catholics