Is Beckham Staying After All?

Either David Beckham has been playing the Clash’s Combat Rock, track No. 3, for the past several weeks, or he’s trying his hardest to add some zip to an early 2012 announcement about his much rumored move to Paris St. Germain.

Because according to today’s Daily Mail, the transfer—once thought to be in the bag—is not a done deal, and may never be one.

During the press conference introducing former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti as the new PSG coach (replacing Antoine Kombouare, who was dismissed despite leading the team to the top of the table heading into the winter break), the Paris side’s sporting director, Leonardo, said of the potential Beckham acquisition, “it’s not done yet and it might not happen.”

It is curious, though, that first-place Kombouare would get the sack and Ancelotti, the man who coached Beckham during his successful loan spell at AC Milan, would be brought in.

Of course, time will tell, but if we had to guess, we’d say the deal is still on. Hard to imagine Beckham engaging the process this far without following through and signing. Additionally, he’s probably enticed by the possibility of winning another league championship (again, PSG is top of the Ligue 1 table right now) and staying on the European radar for the 2012 Olympics in his hometown of London.

Chances are, he’s just (somewhat lamely) trying to build up the announcement for some time next week.

MLS Import-Export Season Under Way

Cue Art Vandelay: While the fate of Major League Soccer’s biggest out-of-contract player, David Beckham, is still undecided (though PSG seems to have the inside track), the 2011-2012 trading season has begun in earnest.

This week the league dealt two 2011 foreign signings back to Mexico and Sweden, respectively, while bringing in a new Brazilian midfielder and generating the usual supply of rumors about other players headed stateside. Let’s take a look:

Bravo, But No Encore

Sporting Kansas City announced yesterday that Designated Player Omar Bravo will return to the Mexican Primera Division after just one season with the MLS club.

The 31-year-old attacker, who tied for the SKC lead in goals with nine, has signed with Cruz Azul, but he’s apparently leaving on good terms. Kansas City coach Peter Vermes called the Cruz Azul offer “very beneficial for him and us. I understand from the business perspective why the decision was made.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, per league policy, but Vermes also told the league website: “I think you are smart enough to figure out that obviously there were benefits on both sides that eventually got the deal done. That’s really it.”

For his part Bravo, left the door open, saying in his departing statement, “I do not want to rule out a return to Sporting KC and MLS.”

Bravo is an excellent player and he did well for Kansas City in 2011, but the club is still in good shape without him. Since the 2011 season ended, they’ve acquired left-sided player Bobby Convey—a former US international who’s still only 28, and as Vermes said, “has a lot to prove.” He could conceivably take Bravo’s place in the KC attack alongside Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, and 2011 Rookie of the Year CJ Sapong.

Kansas City also added central midfielder Paulo Nagamura of Brazil, and Bravo’s departure will free up the cash to shop for another marquee player.

If I Leave Here Tomorrow

He’s travelin’ on back to his native Sweden, but Seattle fans will still remember Eric Friberg.

The 25-year-old was a solid signing for the Pacific Northwest club, producing one goal and two assists, and providing depth and versatility to the Sounders’ midfield—he played in a central attacking role as well as on both flanks during the 2011 season.

Friberg is returning to Sweden for personal reasons: He and his wife are expecting their first child, and they want to be close to home and extended family.

Brazilian Pipeline

On the import side of the ledger, the LA Galaxy announced yesterday that they’ve signed 30-year-old Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Sarvas, a native of Sao Paulo who played for Costa Rican side Alajuelense in 2011.

The Galaxy faced Sarvas twice in the CONCACAF Champions League this past season, so they know what they’re getting. He could partner with his countryman Juninho next season if Juninho, who was on loan to LA from Sao Paulo FC, accepts the Galaxy’s contract offer.

Los Angeles could field three Brazilians next season if Juninho returns and defender Leonardo recovers from his knee injury (and extends his loan from Sao Paulo).

Stay Tuned

Still in the speculative stages are potential moves by the Red Bulls, who are shopping for both a central defender and an attacking midfielder, along with a possible return to the league by rugged Colombian centerback Wilman Conde, who reportedly wants out of Mexican side Atlas.

New York GM Erik Soler says the team is shopping for a third Designated Player from “one of the bigger leagues” in Europe. “We want someone with high quality on the ball who likes to move the ball around but has the ability to score on their own,” he told the league website.

Someone kind of like Dwayne De Rosario…? (Let’s just move on.)

Soler said that the first priority is to add a central defender, and he also said that German goalkeeper Frank Rost could be back after all, though not as a DP.

Real Salt Lake brass are also in the hunt for new talent. Head coach Jason Kreis traveled to South America and Europe in the past few weeks, and GM Garth Lagerwey is currently in Asia looking at players.

FC Dallas Defender George John Set for Move to Blackburn

He played four years of college soccer (at the University of Washington), he never played for a U.S. youth national team, and he’s been called in to just one camp with the senior national team, without being capped, yet FC Dallas defender George John is headed to Blackburn of the English Premier League.

The rangy centerback is making the move for an undisclosed transfer fee, and all terms are expected to be finalized by the end of the week. What ever the circumstances, though, this says a lot for the player and for Major League Soccer—that it has made an EPL–worthy defender out of John, who entered the North American league with a relatively humble pedigree.

In addition to his one U.S. invitation, and the EPL interest, John’s MLS performances attracted the attention of the Greek national team, which invited him to a camp it held in New York this past spring. John, who was born in Shoreline, Washington, but has Greek grandparents, is eligible to play for both Greece and the U.S. He has not committed to either nation as of now.

He closes his MLS career on a pretty good note: John’s last game with FC Dallas was their historic CONCACAF Champions League win over Pumas in Mexico City, the first win by an MLS side in an official competition in Mexico in 26 attempts.

MLS Loses Its First and Only Gaston: Puerari Transferred to Club Atlas

We haven’t checked the alltime MLS player registry, but we’d be willing to bet the league had never had a “Gaston” in its ranks before the Chicago Fire acquired Uruguayan striker Gaston Puerari this past offseason.

Today, MLS has reverted to its former Gaston-less state, and we are all the poorer for it.

The Fire transferred the mercurial 25-year-old forward to Mexican Primera Division side Club Atlas for an undisclosed fee.

Puerari appeared in 14 matches for Chicago, starting 10 and producing one goal and two assists.

Early in the season, he and countryman Diego Chaves formed what looked like a potent, dynamic strike force, but the coaching staff apparently did not see it that way. Puerari eventually dropped out of the starting XI, and the team acquired Ghanaian forward Dominic Oduro from Houston and signed 20-year-old striker Cristian Nazarit from Colombia as potential partners for Chaves.

“Club Atlas was very keen on Gaston and we made the decision to accept the offer based on the best interest of building our club,” Fire Technical Director and Interim Head Coach Frank Klopas told the team website.

“This move provides us with additional flexibility to find a player who will help us achieve our goal of making the MLS Cup Playoffs. We wish Gaston nothing but the best with his new club.”

Adios, Gaston.

Soccer America Incorrectly Lumps Altidore in with Adu, EJ

In an editorial titled “Flops Hurt U.S. Export Market,” Soccer America editor Paul Kennedy claims that the European careers of Freddy Adu, Eddie Johnson, and Jozy Altidore have hurt the United States’ reputation “in Europe as a producer of attacking talent.”

We say: file this one under “three makes it a trend.”

Kennedy needed a third U.S.-bred “bust” in Europe to legitimize his premise, so he stuffed the square peg Altidore into the round hole of his argument, made after all three players were loaned at the close of the winter transfer window.

It’s indisputable that Adu has been a bust in Europe (even though he’s still only 21), and fast becoming so regarding Johnson, who’s now 26.

But Altidore? We beg to differ.

He moved to Villareal from Red Bull New York in the fall of 2008 for an MLS-record $10 million transfer fee. In his first season there, he made nine appearances and scored a goal (against Atletico Bilbao) to become just the second American ever to score in La Liga.

The Yellow Submarine loaned him to second division Spanish side Xerex in 2009, a move that went off the rails for two reasons: 1. Xerex was winning the second division at the time, and were in very much of a ‘if it ain’t broke’ mode regarding their lineup. 2. Altidore got hurt and missed more than a month of the season.

Last season, he was loaned out to Hull, and though his stat line of two goals in 30 appearances was meager (and his stint there ended ignominiously), he was effective in other ways. He was always a handful for opponents’ backlines, he drew multiple penalties and fouls in dangerous areas, and he set up his teammates. His finishing needed work, for sure, but his time at Hull looks much worse on paper than it did on the field for the Yorkshire club.

Now, at this point—after two underwhelming loan spells—a player who was proving to be a bust in Europe might also fall out of his country’s national-team picture. The opposite has been true for Altidore, and his international career has some parallels to his time at Hull in particular.

Altidore appeared in every game for the U.S. at the 2010 World Cup, got the assist on Michael Bradley‘s critical game-tying goal against Slovenia, and made the centering pass that resulted in Landon Donovan’s iconic goal against Algeria. He also hit the bar after an overpowering run against England in the opening game, a play that missed winning the match for the U.S. by about three inches.

Many dismissed him as ineffective in South Africa because he didn’t score a goal in the tournament. The truth is he made a significant impact in all three of the U.S.’s group-stage games, and was consistently problematic for opposing defenses.

When he returned to Villareal for this season, Altidore scored two goals in the Copa del Rey, but only made two La Liga appearances. The reason? He was stuck behind Villareal’s other American-born striker, Giuseppe Rossi, who’s having the season of his life with 20 goals in 32 appearances (in all competitions).

It’s never a straightforward proposition trying to integrate yourself into a new culture and a new team, especially a successful one. It might even be harder, we submit—and Clint Dempsey backs us up*—if you’re American.

In any event, Altidore is still over there, slugging it out, and in a decidedly different category than Adu and Johnson.

Now he goes to Bursaspor, the defending Turkish champions who are just two points off the pace this season. They’re gunning for another title, they’re in a good position to clinch a Champions League berth, and they want Altidore (flew him to Turkey on a private jet, according to Kennedy). He’s in a great position to boost his career.

All that, and Villareal—the third place team in La Liga—retains his rights.

Altidore’s CV may not constitute a rousing success, we admit, but it’s also far—very far—from being a bust. Let’s see how he does at Bursaspor.

*In late 2009, Dempsey told ESPN’s Luke Cyphers: “Being an American in Europe, you can’t just be as good as another player. You have to be better.”

Bradley Completes Move to Villa; Busiest Transfer Window Ever for U.S. Players?

As expected, U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley finalized a loan Monday from relegation-threatened Borussia Moenchengladbach of the Bundesliga to Aston Villa of the Premier League.

He watched as the Villans’ two-game winning streak came to a halt today against Manchester United, but he could debut for the Birmingham club on Saturday against Fulham and fellow American Clint Dempsey.

Bradley’s move led the way, but there was plenty of activity involving Americans during this transfer window. Take a look:

Jozy Altidore from Villareal to Bursaspor (loan). Bursaspor is the defending Turkish champion, and currently sits second in the Süper Lig at 12-2-5.

Oguchi Onyewu from AC Milan to FC Twente (loan). Much-needed move for Gooch, who couldn’t get a game for the Serie A leaders. He’s played three already for his new Dutch club.

Jermaine Jones from Schalke 04 to Blackburn (loan). He’d fallen out of favor with management at Schalke and needed a change of scenery. Named Man of the Match in his debut for Blackburn.

Eddie Johnson from Fulham to Preston North End (loan). Johnson started just one EPL game this year; now he goes to the club whose fans fondly remember previous Yanks Brian McBride and Eddie Lewis. If only they weren’t sitting dead last in the Championship (second level in England).

Freddy Adu from Greek side Aris (by way of Benfica, and several other clubs) to Rizespor of the Turkish second flight. Sigh.

Brad Guzan from Aston Villa to Hull City (loan). Brad Friedel’s apprentice at Villa was languishing on the bench while the ageless Friedel continued to shine between the pipes for the Villans (including today, when he stood on his head to keep it 1-3 vs Man U). Guzan is starting for Hull, which is in 13th place in the English second flight.

Robbie Findley from Real Salt Lake to Nottingham Forest (transfer). Forest is vying for promotion to the Premier League. Findley wasn’t a starter at RSL last season; how will he stack up in the Championship?

Clarence Goodson from Norwegian first-division club IK Start to Brondby of the Danish top flight. Lanky defender sealed this deal in November; it took effect in January.

Other moves of note:

Jonathan Bornstein from Chivas USA to Tigres of the Mexican top flight. Bornstein committed to this transfer a while ago, and joined his new team for preseason training in December.

Diego Restrepo, undersized but highly skilled former UVA goalkeeper, signed with America de Cali in the Colombian first division, while former St. John’s University midfielder Eric Opsahl signed with Reading in the English second flight.

Opsahl, 18, made just three appearances for St. John’s during his freshman season this past fall, but did enough in a two-week trial to earn a contract with Reading, former home of Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann. Who says college soccer is no good?

For more on Opsahl’s interesting route to Reading, see here. And it may be worth asking why DC United, where Opsahl was an academy player, didn’t snap him up.

Finally, two American players came home this winter, as striker Kenny Cooper transferred from 1860 Munich of the Bundesliga 2 to MLS expansion side Portland Timbers, and defender Hunter Freeman departed IK Start of the Norwegian top flight to join the Houston Dynamo.

Cooper joins No. 2 draft pick Darlington Nagbe and Colombian speedster Jorge Perlaza in what could be a potent strike force in Portland.

What Will it Take to Get Freddy Adu to Return to MLS?

Yesterday’s news that U.S. midfielder Freddy Adu is set to go on loan to second-division Turkish side Rizespor is the latest chapter in the former prodigy’s not-so-excellent European adventure.

As we noted here, since Benfica purchased him in 2007, Adu has had trials in Switzerland (with Sion), Denmark (Randers FC) and Germany (Ingolstadt), and gone on loan to France (Monaco), Greece (Aris) and now Turkey.

That’s six teams in three and a half years. Not what he pictured happening when he signed with the famous Portugese club, which holds his rights through 2012.

Before we continue, let’s take a look at where all the Adu hype came from in the first place. How did he get to be U.S. soccer’s Golden Child, the player signed by DC United in 2003 at the age of 14?

Here’s one example, from the 2003 U-17 World Cup (Adu was 14 at the time):

And several more, from the 2007 U-20 World Cup (after which Benfica paid MLS $2 million for the 17-year-old Adu):

Clearly, the hype didn’t materialize out of thin air; Adu was legit—and not too long ago.

So what happened?

We wish we knew, but of the multiple players on display in that Poland clip, the ones who shine brightest—Adu, Danny Szetela, and Sal Zizzo—have seen their careers plateau for various reasons, while others (Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Colorado Rapids left back Anthony Wallace) have found varying degrees of success.

Szetela battled problems in his personal life and is out of the game altogether.

Zizzo was snapped up by Bundesliga side Hannover 96 after that U-20 championship, but suffered an ACL injury in 2009 and eventually returned to the U.S., joining Chivas USA late last season. This year will be a big one for him.

As for Adu, our theory is threefold: 1. As suggested by the way he bristled under the strong leadership of DC coach Peter Nowak in his early MLS days, Adu may not have the head to succeed at the highest levels. 2. His speed and quickness, which were deadly at the youth level, have leveled off and are no longer assets among senior players. 3. His strength—well, see No. 2.

The good news is that Adu, like Altidore—who’s currently fighting for playing time at Spanish side Villareal—is only 21.

It just seems like he’s older, because he started in MLS nearly eight years ago.

We say it’s time for him to return to the U.S. domestic league in a last-ditch effort to salvage his career.

It’ll never happen—his asking price and the league’s would be miles apart, and his pride (this is a player who said his goal is to be “the best ever”) would not tolerate such a tail-between-the-legs development (returning, for less money, to the scene of his heavily hyped start).

But it would be the best thing for him.

MLS is better than when he left it, and it’s certainly a bona fide proving ground for players with top-flight aspirations. Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, and Brad Friedel are just a few of the many players who cut their teeth in MLS and went on to European success.

Beyond that, it’s better than the Turkish second division.

These elements, along with the prospect of regular playing time in his home country under the frequent gaze of U.S. coach Bob Bradley, should be enough to lure the onetime savior of U.S. soccer back to his home country.

Of course, they won’t be.

If his track record is any indication, Adu will explore his options in Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Faroe Islands, and San Marino before returning Stateside.

Bradley on Verge of Villa Loan Deal

Aston Villa, a Premier League club with American ownership (Randy Lerner) and three American players on its books (Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan and Eric Lichaj), is poised to add a third Yank, Michael Bradley, who has been a starter at Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach since 2008.

Bradley is of course the son of U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley, who was rumored to be joining the Villans himself—as head coach—just last summer.

That story turned out to be more rumor than fact, but the reports involving 23-year-old Michael have the ring of truth. ESPN and others have reported that the young Bradley is in Birmingham, taking a physical in advance of processing the paperwork to make the loan official.

The deal will last until the end of the current Premier League season, when it could evolve into a permanent contract, depending on how well the U.S. workhorse does.

With the recent arrival of Jermaine Jones at Blackburn, we could see both of the U.S.’s first-choice central midfielders starting in the Premier League in the coming weeks, along with other U.S. midfielders Stuart Holden and Clint Dempsey.

But Bradley will have competition for a starting spot at Villa, which recently added Cameroonian Jean Makoun to a midfield corps that includes Englishman Nigel Reo Coker and Stiliyan Petrov of Bulgaria, the Villans’ captain.

Altidore On the Move to Turkey?

Numerous reports are suggesting that U.S. striker Jozy Altidore is set to sign a multi-year deal with Turkish club Besiktas.

If Altidore makes the move, Besiktas will be the fourth club he has played for since leaving Red Bull New York in 2008 on an MLS-record $10 million transfer to Villareal.

In the second half of the 2008-09 season, El Submarino Amarillo loaned him out to second-division Spanish side Xerex (which inexplicably benched the player, despite requesting him on loan).

Then came a loan for 2009-10 to then-Premier League Side Hull City.

Now, it appears that Villareal will sell, not loan, the 21-year-old forward to Besiktas, winners of the Turkish league (and league cup) two years ago. 

The Turkish league is a step down from Serie A and the Premier League, obviously, but Altidore needs regular, first-team playing time, so the move would make sense from that perspective.