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U.S men’s national team goalkeeper Zack Steffen has been loaned out by Manchester City to Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Steffen, 24, was bought by Man City in December and immediately loaned back to his former club the Columbus Crew until this summer.

Fortuna announced on Tuesday that following Steffen being the USMNT’s number one goalkeeper for the 2019 Gold Cup he will spend the 2019-20 campaign on loan with them in the Bundesliga.

“I am really looking forward to returning to Germany and becoming part of such a traditional club,” Steffen said about the move.

Fortuna’s sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, who was a legendary goalkeeper himself, is delighted that Steffen has arrived.

“Zack Steffen is a modern goalkeeper who brings everything. He is technically very well educated, strong in one-on-one situations and footballing outstanding. Not without reason has Manchester City decided to sign Zack Steffen on a long-term basis,” Pfannenstiel said.

This return to Germany makes sense for Steffen. Ederson is the first-choice goalkeeper at Man City and Claudio Bravo is still around too with Daniel Grimshaw highly thought of. Ari Muric, another promising young goalkeeper, has signed a new deal at City and has been loaned out to Nottingham Forest, so there is plenty of competition for Steffen to get anywhere near the Man City first team.

Steffen came up through the youth ranks at SC Freiburg before heading to Columbus in 2016 where the former University of Maryland goalkeeper became a regular in MLS in 2017.

He will challenge Fortuna’s Michael Rensing and Raphael Wolf for the starting spot in goal for the team who finished in 10th place in the Bundesliga last season. That was a very good campaign for a newly-promoted side, as fellow USMNT man Alfredo Morales will help Steffen settle in.

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