Julian Gressel was born in Germany, moving to the United States in 2011. He attended Providence College, scoring 30 goals in 83 appearances there. In the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, he was selected by Atlanta United with the No. 8 overall pick. It's difficult to pin down exactly what position he plays, as he has dabbled in central midfield, fullback, as well as winger over the years. He debuted straight away, and became a regular starter for the expansion side. He assisted a goal in his second game with the club. Gressel opened his Five Stripes account in May, touching the ball down and squeezing a left footed shot into the bottom corner.
Gressel also scored in the very next match against Houston, rumbling into the box, and getting a bounce his way for an easy tap in. In the following game, Gressel dished out two assists against NYCFC. He found himself wide open at the back post to score again in DC. After not scoring through the summer, he showed his strength as he surged through the Philadelphia back line to poke another one home. He cut onto the left to plant a strike into the upper left corner in a home match against Minnesota United. Atlanta had an impressive fourth place finish, but the Columbus Crew sent them home in penalties in round one. Gressel's 5 goal and 9 assist season won him the 2017 MLS Rookie of the Year Award.
In 2018, Gressel exploded on the assist side of things, providing helpers to the Golden Boot winner in Josef Martinez. He notched a career-high 14 of them on the year. He also scored 4 goals, the first of which coming early in the season against LAFC. He scattered assists all throughout the campaign, providing them in a large percentage of games. He bounced one in to secure a point against Portland. On September 15th, he dished out two assists for the first time on the season, the first a cross to Miguel Almiron, and the second a square ball for Hector Villalba. Gressel chested a ball down and screamed a volley in to win a match against Real Salt Lake. A clean finish into the bottom left at Mercedes-Benz Stadium went down as his fourth of the year. Atlanta earned 69 points and a second place Eastern Conference finish. Gressel played every minute of the club's run to the cup. He provided an assist in the ECF against the New York Red Bulls. On December 8th, Atlanta United knocked down the Portland Timbers 2-0 in MLS Cup, and Gressel hoisted the trophy.
In 2019, Julian Gressel had his highest-scoring MLS season. Additionally, he scored in both legs of a CCL matchup with Herediano prior to the season. His first MLS goal of the year sent the Benz into a frenzy, as he squeezed his effort off the near post and in. He cut inside and scored with a deflection against Toronto FC. His next goal also came against Toronto, smashing it in at the near post after a bad clear. In July, he scored the fifth of five goals against the Houston Dynamo. He also assisted two goals. After playing a fabulous one-two with Emerson Hyndman, Gressel ran into the box and finished smoothly for Atlanta United. While known for his crossing, Julian Gressel was showing his incredible volleying ability out on the right flank as well. On Decision Day, he made the best possible contact on the ball, destroying it off the far post and in. Within the first ten minutes of the Eastern Conference Semis, Gressel chipped it off the crossbar and in to help beat Philadelphia. Just four minutes into the ECF, he struck again, but Atlanta saw that lead evaporate, leading to their elimination. Despite the loss there, Atlanta did win the US Open Cup, as well as the Campeones Cup.
After three successful years with Atlanta, the team moved on from Gressel. DC United acquired him in exchange for $750K in allocation money. He stung the hands of Andre Blake to score in a blowout loss to Philadelphia for his first DCU goal. He scored once more in a rough 2020 year, as it was for many players, when he scored the lone goal versus his future team, Columbus. It was a new feeling for Gressel, as he played for his first bad team, missing the playoffs. In 2021, it was a pretty good individual season, but his team narrowly missed the postseason again. While scoring just twice again, he provided 13 assists, one off his career-high from 2018. Despite getting pounded 5-2 in Nashville, Gressel provided an assist on both DC goals. His corner kick opened the scoring, while he was credited with a secondary assist on an Ola Kamara goal. His goals actually came in back to back games, funnily enough. He controlled it nicely to score his first of the year in the final days of September. He launched a powerful strike to beat Pedro Gallese at the near post in the next game.
Julian Gressel started 2022 with DC United, but his time at the faltering club ran out months later. In a match that DC threw away a 2-0 lead against Austin, he assisted both goals. The first was a secondary assist on a deep cross, the second a direct low cross to Ola Kamara for another. Once the summertime came, the story of Gressel at DC United was written. On July 15th, the Vancouver Whitecaps traded up to $900K in GAM for his services. He scored his first for the club with a perfect flick header in Utah. His second was yet another rocketed volley against Seattle, his first goal at BC Place. He missed out on the playoffs with Vancouver, meaning he had missed the postseason three years in row after participating in each of his first three seasons. Vancouver, though, did with the 2022 Canadian Championship.
His time with the Vancouver Whitecaps did not last much longer. Gressel drove home a rebound against Montreal to open his 2023 account. He scored a volley of extreme power to equalize against Houston, a 2-2 scoreline in just 18 minutes. It became a brace when he took a rebound out of the air and calmly guided it into the net. Gressel won the 2023 Canadian Championship with Vancouver as well, earning the George Gross Memorial Trophy for the best player of the tournament. That was the end of his era in Vancouver.
Just before Gressel left Vancouver, he got a call up to the Gold Cup for the United States. The German became a US citizen in November 2022, and debuted for the national team during January camp. In the Gold Cup, he appeared in all four matches, now totaling 6 caps for his new country. On July 21st of this year, the Columbus Crew acquired Julian Gressel for up to $850K in GAM. It was the third time that he was traded within MLS for a large sum of allocation money. In his 19-minute Crew debut, Gressel cut back a pass for an easy Christian Ramirez goal. He scored his first goal for Columbus in September, tapping a ball into the gaping goal frame from close range. Gressel finished the 2023 season with 4 goals and 6 assists. He and his Columbus Crew side will look to defeat his former team in Atlanta United in a best-of-3 series. Gressel will look to return to MLS Cup. For his incredible crossing ability, power volleys and pure consistency over the years, Julian Gressel finishes out the forties, at #40.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2023 | CLB/VAN | 2,104 | 4 | 6 |
2022 | VAN/DC | 2,357 | 2 | 9 |
2021 | DC | 2,699 | 2 | 13 |
2020 | DC | 1,681 | 2 | 3 |
2019 | ATL | 2,693 | 6 | 12 |
2018 | ATL | 2,945 | 4 | 14 |
2017 | ATL | 2,048 | 5 | 9 |
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