St. Louis City’s Nicholas Gioacchini might be the next USMNT player from MLS to head to Europe, with his likely destination becoming one of a full-circle move for the Italian-American.
It was reported on Sunday that Como 1907, a club competing in Italy’s Serie B second-tier, submitted a proposal to St. Louis City SC for the transfer of Gioacchini.
Understand Como FC sent a proposal to St Louis City for striker Niko Gioacchini.
Gioacchini has agreed terms with Como, now it’s between the two clubs.He has scored 10 goals in St Louis expansion season in MLS when the new franchise finished top of the league. pic.twitter.com/GjSX1l5YBY
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 14, 2024
The 23-year-old striker valued at $2.5 million has reportedly already agreed on personal terms with the Italians, now awaiting for the clubs to agree on the transfer fee to complete the signing.
Gioacchini’s current contract situation with St. Louis — tied with the club until this December — would ease negotiations to have him become the first outgoing transfer in the club’s history.
The Kansas City-born would be ‘returning’ to Italy after having spent four years in the country between 2008 and 2012, a time period that saw him play with local academies.
“I spent four years [in Italy] where I played with a small club called Audience and another called Milan Club, close to AC Milan,” said the American in an interview last year.
His father, born in Parma, allows Gioacchini to hold an Italian passport — an important factor in finding and transferring to leagues in Europe that have a cap on the amount of foreign players in each club.
Gioacchini holds eight caps with the USMNT and scored 10 goals and provided one assist in 32 regular season games in the 2023 MLS Season, the highest tally of his career.