Long one game short of Hammers goal
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “As our biggest ally, it seems strange that a football player from the US can’t automatically get a work visa to play in England. Every kid in the USA dreams of playing in the English Premier League. Not many players get the chance, so of course I would like to play there someday.”
Long added: “I just signed a new contract, so the decision is up to my club and the other team. NY Red Bulls gave me an amazing opportunity, so it would also be a dream to play for RB Leipzig or Red Bull Salzburg, but that won’t happen because they only sign players 24 or under.”
The USA has a FIFA world ranking of 22 meaning US players need to have played in 60% of all international games over the 24 months to get an automatic work permit. Long has played 11 international matches in total since making his debut in October 2018.
The Californian born player will need to rely on the exceptional talent rule via an exception panel.
The objective criteria relies on his transfer fee or wages being on a high percentile of all Premier League transfers in the previous season or a top 30 wage earner.
Long would almost likely need to rely on the subjective criteria based on the fact that the player satisfies or partially satisfies some of the automatic criteria for a Governing Body Endorsement, as well as the extent to which the player exceeds or falls short of these criteria.