United States Under-20 defender Neven Subotic has signed a four-year deal with Bundesliga side Mainz 05 after completing a successful trial.

The 17-year old joins fellow countryman Conor Casey at the Stadion am Bruchweg after training with the first team for two weeks and playing four friendly matches.

"It could be that he won't play until he turns 18 in December, but he will commence first team training at once," agent Steve Kelly confirmed. "He has done very, very well and they are excited and pleased he has come here."

"They don't normally sign young players for four years, so they see him as a big talent."

The Bradenton graduate declined approaches from MLS in favor of launching his career in European soccer, and although he is likely to begin in Mainz's second or even youth team, will be eager to impress Die Nullfünfer head coach Jürgen Klopp who led the side to eleventh in last season's Bundesliga campaign.

Subotic, the child of Bosnian Serb immigrants, is fluent in German having lived in the country for eight years before moving stateside at the age of twelve.

"He still has family in Germany all over the place," commented Kelly. "[That] is a real plus."

The 6' 3" defender represented his country at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru and started for the US U-20s against Argentina in April 2006.