He looked set to be this season’s breakthrough American star in Europe.
After a bright summer, where he played a key role in the best performances of the U.S. men’s Olympic football team at the Games in France, 21-year-old Kevin Paredes was ready to achieve big things in Germany’s top-flight Bundesliga.
At his club, Wolfsburg, head coach Ralph Hasenhuttl had already told Paredes he expected him to be an important part of his first-team plans. That’s why he rushed straight off to join pre-season training after the U.S. team’s last game at the Olympics on August 2, having scored twice and assisted once in four appearances as they reached the quarter-finals.
He barely paused to reflect on his whirlwind summer before arriving at Wolfsburg’s camp in Austria, then travelling on to London for a friendly against Premier League side Brentford on August 9.
But then, 10 seconds into the second half of that game, things started to go wrong.
What felt like a mild foot problem turned into a repeat fracture, an injury which means his most recent competitive appearance remains that 4-0 Olympic defeat by Morocco at the Parc des Princes in Paris — after which impressed opponent Achraf Hakimi, of Paris Saint-Germain, consoled him by predicting a stellar international future for the former D.C. United academy kid.
Now, as he prepares to finally return for a Wolfsburg side chasing a top-six finish and qualification for European competition next season, the midfielder tells The Athletic about how he made it through the most challenging part of his career so far.
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The initial prognosis was that a broken bone in his right foot would mean only a four-to-six-week absence over late summer — almost a replacement for the off-season he never had having gone straight from the end of Wolfsburg’s 2023-24 campaign in May to starting preparation for the Olympics the following month and back again. But for the versatile Paredes, who can operate in defence and midfield, typically on the left flank, even that felt like too much time out of action.
“At first, I didn’t even believe it. I had no pain and I didn’t want to accept it,” he says. “I was just thinking, ‘There’s no chance I’m out that long’.”
In reality, Paredes has been out for much longer than initially anticipated, with repeated setbacks on the road to recovery.
“It really started to affect me when I got close to getting back twice only to go backwards again,” he explains. “I was doing the exact same thing every day and was not getting better.
Paredes celebrates scoring against Guinea at the Olympics last July (Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)
“I was questioning everything. Players told me they had seen a change in me. I’m normally the positive guy in the locker room and they can tell when you change. I was always in my head about it. Being down all the time wasn’t going to help me get better. The days when I’d just go back to my apartment in pain were very long days. I like to be playing and around my team-mates. You miss the conversations.
“But I need to be that positive person for my team-mates and to be someone who is good to be around. Remaining positive and going to the gym every day are the only things I can do to help myself.”
Although a popular figure in the Wolfsburg squad, Paredes began to feel isolated at times.
“We (injured players) are sort of there but not there,” he says. “You just continue what you’re doing and we’re not in team meetings. You’re away from your team-mates a lot. I’m there at the training ground much earlier than them and surprisingly leave later because you might have two sessions or two treatments.
“We try our best to hang out. Aster Vranckx (Wolfsburg’s Belgium international midfielder, who missed two months of the season with a hamstring problem) — he has been like family. He has helped me keep in a good place in my head. It would have been much tougher without someone like him, who is like a brother.”
Paredes’s actual relatives have been another huge source of support.
In late summer, he returned to the family home in South Riding, Va., on the western outskirts of U.S. capital Washington, to begin his rehabilitation there. That offered a chance to reconnect with loved ones, something Paredes — who moved to Germany from local MLS side D.C. United at the age of 18 in January 2022 — cherishes as a positive amid this wave of injury setbacks.
He went to unusual lengths to fill the aching gap in his life where football normally sat.
“Me and my dad watched all the Marvel movies in order: every single one,” Paredes says of the comic-book giant’s 34-film back catalogue. “We love them and I wanted to really understand every bit.
“I remember in my last week at home, we had a whole bunch still to watch and I was like, ‘Yo, Pops, as soon as you get back from work, we have to sit down and watch at least two to three movies tonight’. We’d be finishing up at 1am, watching the last movie.
Paredes has been with German side Wolfsburg for three years (Oliver Hardt/Getty Images)
“It was fun and, actually, it was really special. It was the first time I’ve been able to spend his birthday with him (Paredes’ father) in four years. The last time was when I was still in D.C., after my first season there.
“In a somewhat bad situation, there has been a lot of good that comes from it, like that quality family-time that has been missed while I’ve been in Germany. I’ve had to learn a lot about myself and how to have joy outside of football.”
Now back in Germany, Paredes has been stepping up his rehab and, after surgery on his foot, is finally able to run — albeit he does so using an anti-gravity treadmill. Made by AlterG, the device “combines precision unweighting technology with real-time gait analytics and video feedback”, according to its manufacturer.
“I’m making good progress now,” Paredes says. “The AlterG is pretty cool — it’s like assisted running. I’ve been doing that and fully healing at the same time, so I don’t have any more setbacks when I’m back.”
Paredes has also been using the time to strengthen the areas in his body where he has suffered previous niggles.
“It’s just anything to avoid being out for a long time again,” he says. “Mentally, it has toughened me up a bit. I think when I’m back on the pitch, I’ll use all this as fuel. I’ll remember these tough times and let my wings fly when the opportunity comes.”
Wolfsburg are having a promising season so far. After finishing only four points clear of the relegation zone last time, they are currently ninth in the Bundesliga table after 21 of 34 games, three points off the qualification spot for the Conference League and just six outside the top four, which would bring a 2025-26 Champions League berth. Paredes is desperate to return and help his team-mates push on towards European football next season.
He made 28 league appearances in that 2023-24 campaign, with 15 starts, and scored three goals. He wants to become one of Wolfsburg’s main performers for the final months of this season.
“It’s been a joy to watch them succeed,” he says. “My second year (2022-23), we were really doing well but just not enough for Conference League (Wolfsburg lost three of their final four matches to finish a point off seventh, which would have seen them qualify for that UEFA competition). I was coming off the bench then but didn’t play a whole lot. This season, I was expecting to play more and was desperate to be part of my team winning.
“I see how hard they work for the weekend and the efforts they put into training to get the results. I wish I could be there and suffer with them, in training and the games.
Paredes made his USMNT debut against Oman in September 2023 (Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images)
“Coming back to a lively locker room will be nice but it will be tough to break back into the starting line-up, even though when I’m in my flow, I can do it. I still have full confidence that when I’m back healthy, I’ll have the levels I was planning on before this. I want to help us go even further and solidify the European spot.”
A full return to the fold, though, may mean hitting pause on his other ‘injury hobby’.
“I’ve really started cracking down on cooking for myself and learning,” Paredes says. “Watching videos on cooking and how to do my favourite Chipotle meal — or as close as possible. It’s been interesting. Some are really good. Others are like, ‘Bro’, what is this?!’.”
“I’m a chicken-bowl type of guy and try to create them here. It’s not the same but it’s not bad. I’ve definitely cooked a lot more during this time. Sometimes it’s tasty. Sometimes it’s, ‘Ugh, never again!’.”
Paredes has his sights on resuming his international trajectory too and has received some words of comfort from Marko Mitrovic, the USMNT Under-20s manager who also coached the Olympic men’s team last summer.
“Marko was expecting big things from me in every game at the tournament,” says the player who scored both goals in a 2-0 win against Guinea in their final group-stage game at the Olympics and shone in a 4-1 triumph over New Zealand three days earlier. “He has checked in on me a lot during this time, even over non-football things.
“He says he’ll come and see me in Germany when I’m fit again. We’re really close. He’s an incredible coach and an incredible person. He doesn’t have to check up on me. He has his hands full preparing for a big tournament with the team.
“Marko told me the senior (USMNT) staff ask about me, and playing at the home World Cup (next year) is definitely my goal. I just need to get back healthy, and I think it’s reachable if I continue doing the right things and stay injury-free.”
Such is his pent-up determination, Paredes will give that aim everything he has. Another dream is scoring the winner in a major tournament for his country.
And if that sounds like a comic-book or Hollywood movie ending, then he has at least done his homework.
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(Top photo: Daniela Porcelli/ISI/Getty Images)
