The now-21-year-old has gone from sitting behind centre-back-turned-right-back Ronald Araujo and midfielder-turned-right-back Sergi Roberto at Barca to being second choice to 25-year-old Rossoneri captain Davide Calabria. Dest has been available to Stefano Pioli's Milan five times since moving to San Siro; he has yet to start and has three substitute appearances and 90 minutes' worth of action to his name -- 33 of which came at right wing, rather than right-back.

The future that looked so bright three years ago, the momentum behind one of the United States' most promising prospects, has dimmed and stalled. From the moment he announced that he'd represent the U.S. at senior level, he was considered a lock to start at November's World Cup in Qatar -- and that's still the likeliest outcome -- but in the time since, right-back has become one of the deepest positions in Berhalter's team. Three years ago, Reggie Cannon was still untested at the highest level; he's now a regular with Boavista in Portugal. Joe Scally hadn't even made his MLS debut yet for New York City FC; now in his second season with Borussia Monchengladbach, he continues to force his way into the starting XI, playing in all but 14 minutes in the club's first seven Bundesliga games this season -- including a draw at Bayern and a dominant win over RB Leipzig. DeAndre Yedlin has returned to the national team from an 18-month exile, Chris Richards has done the occasional moonlighting at full-back at club level despite his promise as an emerging talent in central defense. Berhalter has his favorites, though, and Dest is certainly among them, but competition for the position is real.