As news reports first surfaced from the Washington Post that Derby County was seriously pursuing Charlotte FC and U.S. men’s national team striker Patrick Agyemang, many of the loudest voices in U.S. soccer circles have suggested Charlotte were easily the winners of the deal in receiving a reported $8 million transfer fee.

Agyemang was disconnected and not particularly impressive during his extended run with the U.S. men’s national team through a pair of friendlies and then on their run to the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup final. He knew very little about one of his two goals. haphazardly deflecting Diego Luna’s shot. And his tendency to slow down American attacks and occasionally play sloppy passes has come under a laser focus.

But Agyemang is the kind of player that so often fools fans, who can be easily distracted by unrealized potential to miss what is actually there, particularly when it comes to goal-scoring. And there are lots of strikers who have gone to accomplished international careers because managers and sporting directors are more focused on the sum of the contribution those players make than opportunities they miss.

In other words, there’s still a solid chance $8 million proves to be a bargain.

Darwin’s Continued Selection

One of the best recent examples is Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, who often maddens fans with his first and final touches. Yet his other abilities – mainly his excellent work rate and consistent ability to show up in dangerous areas and draw defensive attention – still make him a must-include for Uruguay’s national team, as well as a player who made 30 league appearances for last year’s Premier League champions.

Agyemang obviously isn’t as talented as Nunez. But the concept is the same: A player who still brings considerable value, even if it’s rather obvious watching him that he could be a lot better with some refinement that just isn’t in the cards at this point in his career.

Even so, there’s a couple reasons Agyemang could still improve his value despite his somewhat advanced age of 24 in soccer terms.

The biggest is that he’s a center forward, and similar to center backs, there’s actually quite a bit about center forward play that favors a later maturation than, say, central or wide attacking midfielders.

Nine Lives

You can look at the careers of some of the best American strikers of all time to see this play out (as well as countless others who only really hit their stride in their late 20s.) In one of the more mind-blowing stats you’ll ever read, Chris Wondolowski scored 164 of his MLS-record 171 career goals beginning in his age 28 season or later.

The entirety Brian McBride’s five-plus-year Premier League career, mostly at Fulham, came after his 30th birthday. And we could be seeing the 28-year-old Vancouver Whitecaps No. 9 Brian White entering a similar career trajectory.

While it’s unlikely Agyemang can improve technical skills like his first touch at this age, he can definitely still grow in terms of positioning and off-ball movement that are skills so critical of true No. 9 play, and all contribute to that phenomenon of late-bloomers.

Additionally, for all the griping about Agyemang’s lack of polishing, he has actually proven himself quite capable at the most important skill of them all for his position: finishing.

Finishing Touches

Unlike Nunez – or maybe his true American equivalent, Brandon Vazquez – so far in Agyemang’s top-flight career, he’s proven an entirely capable shooter. You wouldn’t know it from the criticism, but he’s actually exceeded his expected goals (xG) totals so far over his MLS tenure, scoring 17 times on 13.7 xG, per Opta data. A small sample size still, to be sure, but given the outrage from some corners of the American fanbase, you’d think the numbers were flipped.

Whether Derby County represents the right next step for Agyemang’s development is a worthwhile question. Even if he lives up to Derby’s expectations for striker play, he’s probably going to receive fewer opportunites per match playing for a side that narrowly escaped EFL Championship relegation last season. The quality of players surrounding him also isn’t likely to be higher with the Rams than when he played next to Liel Abada and Wilfried Zaha at Charlotte this season.

But it’s impossible to blame Agyemang for moving when the salary is reported to be in the range of $1.2-1.5 million, more than 10-fold what he currently makes with Charlotte. And the idea an $8-million fee is an obvious rip-off has a lot more to do with American insecurity about its exported players than what goals actually cost on the open market.

Goals are the most valuable commodity in the game. Style points don’t matter. And the history of this sport is filled with strikers who exasperated their fans far more often than they satisfied them, but would have still commanded far more on the market at their peak than Agyemang’s sellers are set to receive.