The crows are starting to circle around Noel Buck.
The 18-year-old is in the midst of a breakout season in MLS, playing mostly as a No. 8 for the New England Revolution. Buck has racked up 15 starts for the Revs in league play this year, becoming one of their most important midfielders along the way. He’s popped off the screen in almost every single one of those starts, to the point where both clubs and national teams on the other side of the Atlantic are starting to take notice.
Buck was born in the United States, but he’s eligible to play for England and Wales at the international level, too, through his father. He’s “open to anything” when it comes to his international future, which is a sensible thing for a player to say at such an early stage of their career. With a UK passport, the English youth national team setup and clubs in England have taken a keen interest in Buck, who made his England U-19 debut earlier in September.
If he keeps up this current trajectory, having gone from the third-division USL League One in 2021 to spot MLS minutes in 2022 to consistent ones in 2023, Buck won’t have to wait long before making some big decisions about his future.
Here’s why everyone seems to want the young midfielder.
The secret to Buck’s success
The first thing you need to know about Buck (and no, this is not an exaggeration… you need to see this, I’m being completely serious) is that his hair used to look like this:
