Werder Bremen have confirmed that Josh Sargent will not take part in the United States men’s national team’s upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Mexico. However, don’t get too upset because it appears that both the club and national team have the 18-year-old’s long-term future in mind.

The reason for the striker’s omission from the USMNT friendlies is simple. According to Bremen sporting director Frank Baumann, “It’s better” for Josh to stay with the club than to go off on international duty. The club’s manager also revealed that Sargent will join the first team during the break and participate in their own friendlies.

“I thought that Josh played very well yesterday,” Kohfeldt said at a press conference on Thursday. “Josh will definitely get his chances to play with us in the friendly games next week.” -Bremen manager Florian Kohfeldt; Source: bundesliga.com

At this juncture of his career, earning his way up the ranks of his club team is way more important for the Missouri native than playing in a few near meaningless friendlies for the USA. He’s scoring at a nice rate in the German fourth division for Bremen’s U-23 team. He has four goals in the first six matches of the season.

He proved before the World Cup that he’s worthy of being in the conversation for the national team striker depth chart. Now is the time for him to focus on breaking into the Bremen first team and securing his spot for the future. The national team will be there when he does.