What? Dest played 12 freaking games for the USA youth squad. I hope you're not trying to convince anyone the US actually developed Dest into the player he is today. He's been taking massive strides since joining the A-squad.
That said, he hasn't leaned one way or the other. I really don't care. He's a good kid who plays a position which isn't occupied very thickly in Oranje, but he's not a potential star. I worry more about Ihattaren.
He's played way more than that. I don't know where you got that number from, but I can assure you it's more than that. He's been playing in US youth teams for three years, and has consistently been getting caps throughout those three years, including two FIFA tournaments and one CONCACAF qualifying tournament. He's also been in camps for nonofficial games, and has now played two official games for the Senior National Team.
I didn't say that he didn't gain a lot from his weekly play at Ajax, but it would be foolish to act like he didn't gain significantly from being a regular youth international who has played in the major big youth international tournaments. In my opinion, it's pretty clear his game has seen substantial development during these tournaments, and he's parlayed that into success at the club level. He also started getting interest from Netherlands youth national teams shortly following success at the U-17 World Cup from what I heard.
If you want me to go further into depth, I can. He was a back up going into the U-17 World Cup, and it was completely deserved. I had seen him play compared to the other fullbacks a number of times, and I wasn't even convinced he deserved to be on the roster, at all. During the tournament, the starting RB got injured, the starting LB wasn't convincing, and the team had injuries and suspensions at CB and CM, which forced him into a regular starting role towards the end of the tournament. He was excellent, and completely helped his standing. I thought he went from an afterthought who looked like he was only on the books of Ajax to make up the numbers to a player who looked like he had decent potential, and could maybe be a good professional player at a high level. I remember at that time he wasn't even an every game starter at Ajax.
Then he had a great CONCACAF U-20 Qualifying tournament where he completely shut down and neutralized Diego Lainez, who I believe nearly signed for Ajax or PSV. One of the big Dutch teams. Lainez was a senior international at the time. Dest was playing every week in the Ajax U-19's and Jong Ajax. Shutting down Lainez was probably the best game he'd ever played as an amateur player, considering the circumstances. Then he earned very good reviews for his play at the U-20 WC. I don't believe he had even been on the first team radar at Ajax going into that tournament. I think you told me as much at the time, but immediately after he's now training with the first team in preseason and eventually grabs a starting spot.
To act like he didn't benefit significantly from his experience as a consistent youth international with the USA for three years would be foolish. Of course, he has. Some of his best performances as a footballer, biggest games, toughest players he's matched up against have been in a US shirt. And I suspect the two biggest games he's played in were the two friendlies for the USMNT, against Uruguay and Mexico. Mexico is a huge rivalry match. Those games are very heated, and always tense.
In the end, I'm not that concerned either way. I think Dest is a good player, and he has good potential, but I've never been as high on his game as some other US fans. I don't like his defensive game, and think he's very soft, avoiding physical contact way too often, for a player who isn't that short in stature. He could of course prove me wrong and he's certainly at least good enough right now to play for the USMNT, but I'm not exactly convinced we'd be losing a future world class star. There are dual-national players that I think would be bigger losses to our program than Dest. I hope he chooses the USA, but I suspect he'll play for the Netherlands.