Of the five Americans to play in Germany’s First Division this past season, only one looks like he’ll be back with the same club next season. Jovan Kirovski, who got his first start for the United States in the Hexagonal in the 1-1 tie with El Salvador, is set to return to European Cup champion Borussia Dortmund. Kirovski’s future in the team is a bit uncertain, though. Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld quit days after the season ended, and he’s been replaced by Italian Nevio Scala. Three Americans are moving to new German clubs, while Thomas Dooley has left to play for MLS’s Columbus Crew. In the biggest transfer, Claudio Reyna is leaving First Division runner-up Bayer Leverkusen to join newly promoted Wolfsburg, where he’ll join American Chad Deering. Duisburg also had interest in Reyna, who never fit into Christoph Daum’s plans at Leverkusen last season, but it was scared off by Reyna’s conflicts with World Cup qualifying. The transfer fee is a reported $1.2 million. Reyna’s transfer was part of approximately $5 million German carmaker Volkswagon has injected into Wolfsburg for new player acquisitions. The club’s budget will have more than doubled to $12 million. David Wagner and Michael Mason, two German-born Americans, are both moving from First Division to Second Division clubs. Wagner, who spent two years at Schalke with Dooley, is returning to Guetersloh, on a free transfer, while Mason is moving from Hamburg to city rival St. Pauli for $60,000. None of the Americans played regularly in the First Division this past season. Wagner had the most appearances (13), followed by Dooley (8), Kirovski (7), Reyna (5) and Mason (3). Dooley scored twice, while Kirovski and Mason had one goal apiece.
