Fortuna Dusseldorf Confirm Loan Signing of Zack Steffen from Manchester City

Manchester City have confirmed American goalkeeper Zack Steffen will spend the 2019-20 season on loan at Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf.

The news was shared in a statement on City's website on Tuesday. The Dusseldorf club posted the following clip of Steffen reacting to the loan:

Steffen's move to the Manchester club was confirmed in December, although he spent the first half of the Major League Soccer season with Columbus Crew.

Since making his debut for the United States in 2018, the 24-year-old has established himself as the starting goalkeeper for the team. He has now made 15 appearances for the national side, including five at the CONCACAF Gold Cup over the summer, where the USMNT finished runners-up to Mexico.

During his time with the Crew, the Pennsylvanian has made rapid strides and in 2018 he was named as the best goalkeeper in Major League Soccer. Per WhoScored, he was consistently able to keep out opposition attackers last term:

With Ederson Moraes established at City as the starting goalkeeper and Claudio Bravo providing experienced backup, a loan move always appeared likely for Steffen next season.

It will not be Steffen's first spell in Germany; he spent a season with Freiburg's second team in 2015-16.

In Dusseldorf, he will be joining a club that performed well in 2018-19 after having earned promotion back to the top flight. Fortuna were 16 points clear of the relegation playoff spot, eventually finishing in 10th in the Bundesliga.

He's set to compete with veteran Michael Rensing for a starting berth at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.