When Villareal sent Jozy Altidore to second division leader Xerez, I think we were all pretty sure that a massive increase in playing time was sure to follow. Well, it didn’t. And now Villareal are rumored to be looking to move him again in an effort to change that, this time to second division mid-table side Levante. But this is apparently all news to Jozy:

“That’s the first time I’ve heard anything like that,” he told The New York Times website. “I don’t know about going anywhere else. This is the first I’ve heard.” [...]

“I wouldn’t doubt that Villarreal is disappointed,” the former New York Red Bull said. “They sent a player who they think can help them in the future to get minutes and I’m not getting minutes. It’s natural to think about what’s going on.”

“I’m trying to get better everyday on the field,” he said. “Every day at Xerez the manager and the trainer tell me I’m doing well and I’m improving. It’s all positive, at least it seems to be.”

Except for, you know, the whole not playing thing.

[Source: Goal]

SACHA KLJESTAN fears he may have priced himself out of a move to Celtic after his stunning hat-trick display against Sweden.

Several clubs in Holland and Germany were already on the trail of the 23-year-old American, who warmed up for this weekend’s international in Los Angeles by spending six days on trial at Lennoxtown.

Despite reports the framework of a deal worth around £2million to transfer Kljestan from Chivas USA was already in place with the MLS, who hold his contract, Celtic are in the same position as every other club interested in signing the Californian.

Kljestan impressed everyone during his trial, including manager Gordon Strachan, and admitted he enjoyed his time at the club where he believed he was well received.

But the $64,000 question remains: Do Celtic need to spend this kind of money – plus commit to a hefty contract – for a player in an area which is already well covered when there are other positions more in need of attention?

With rivals and nearest competitors Rangers already making it clear that they are in the market to sell, if anything, the answer to that question could very well be no, unfortunately. Plus, Celtic’s self-imposed deadline on making Kljestan an offer has come and gone, so all that together could spell another season in MLS for Sacha.

Who would’ve thought that a breakout international performance could actually damage your ability to get a big club transfer? This might be a first.

Well, after it sounded like Gooch to Marseille was all but a done deal, here comes Standard Liege sporting director Pierre Francois, who might have the most French name in the history of the world, saying they’re basically going to hold him at gunpoint until the season ends:

“[Onyewu] won’t leave in January,” said Standard Liege sporting director Pierre Francois in an interview with Belgium newspaper La Dernière Heure. “We offered him a new contract. If he doesn’t accept that, he will leave after this season. We prefer to keep him for another six months and let him go for free than to sell him in January for just a small fee.”

To which I replied:

“Wow, you’re a dick.”

But the good news is that the interest in Gooch appears to be strong in French Ligue 1, as both Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly willing to pay his $4.3 million price tag. So, unless something terrible happens between now and June, don’t be surprised if Onyewu is wearing one of those kits next season.

****

Meanwhile, reports are that a deal has already been completed to send Neven Subotic to Napoli. Subotic has been absolutely stellar so far this season and there was a lot of interest in him, but if this deal does go through, I think it should be a good thing. Napoli is a solid club and has proven to be a place where young talent can develop quickly over the last few years.

Of course, the bigger question for us is what impact this would have on his chances of playing for the US MNT. I think the answer is none, but Italy might be a good place to keep the interest of Bob Bradley and co. I mean, if Danny Szetela can keep him interested while playing at Serie B side Brescia, Subotic should have them drooling (and hopefully stepping up their pursuit of him) at Napoli.

[Sources: SI and Goal]

Lost in the holiday shuffle (at least, around here) was an article by Soccernet’s Steve Davis, who says Landon Donovan might not be the only American headed to the Bundesliga come January.

According to Davis, Eintracht Frankfurt are hot on the trail of FrankenCooper, and the FC Dallas striker is getting serious about exploring the move:

The big fellow and his family may make a trip to Germany soon for a personal look-see at the Bundesliga outfit. Bernd Hölzenbein, a once-prominent German international who played for Kenny Cooper Sr. in American indoor soccer some years ago, is now a scout for Frankfurt. He was in Colorado last week to see Cooper and speak to the family.

Hölzenbein apparently came away impressed.

Davis goes on to explore the possible outcomes of this situation, and says Cooper will likely cost around $4 million.

So what do you make of this? Is Frankfurt a good destination for Cooper, or would you rather see him end up at Rosenborg or Cardiff, who were both rumored to be interested earlier this summer?

There once was a rumor floating around a few months ago, perhaps you remember it. This said rumor pertained to the all time leading goal scorer in US Men’s National Team History, one Landon Donovan, perhaps joining up with Jurgen Klinsmann at Bayern Munich to give his European career another chance.

Many scoffed at the rumor; some considered it, but since then was a great deal of silence, and most notably, Landon feeling the need publicly speak over and over and over again about his desire to transfer over to European football. Now we have some action people.

Today it was announced on both the Bayern Munich and LA Galaxy official websites that Landon Donovan will be heading over to Bayern Munich for some type of training stint with the club and head honcho Jurgen Klinsmann. Klinsmann, a pretty big admirer of Landy Cakes, was said to have been trying to buy Donovan this past summer, a move that, apparently, fell through.

What remains somewhat shrouded in secrecy is the purpose of such a 10 day training stint. The story resonating form Germany comes with some plastic quotes from both Jurgen and Landon on how the training trip is simply to stay in shape during the MLS off-season, ala David Beckham training with Arsenal last year. Yet simply connecting the dots on this long-developing story suggests it is everything but a simple training voyage to Munich. If you combine Klinsmann’s alleged prior pursuit of Donovan, with Landon’s current desire to transfer abroad, on top of the actual length of the visit (10 days), it only equates to one thing, a flat-out trial with Bayern Munich with an eye towards a signing.

Seriously, what is training for 10 days now going to do for Landon’s fitness level when he will supposedly start MLS play back up again around April?

Landon wanted his shot and now he has it. Let’s see what he can do with it.

(Brooks note: anyone who remembers The Amazing Criswell’s prediction from a while back already knows what he will do with it.)

EDIT: If you have an inordinate amount of time on your hands , here is the complete video of Landon’s first full training session with Munich, viewed here.

Besides noticing that Luca Toni and Frank Ribery feel quite a bit of affection for eachother, you will see Donovan putting in a very very impressive first day of training. He look’s good so far.

“I don’t know, I definitely think it’s a possibility… I think they’re probably considering it… I am happy to be here helping out. I know whatever they choose it’s in the best interest for me.”

Although it seems to get brought up just about every two weeks, I don’t know if Villarreal has the guts to ship him out. Their frontline is more fragile than a china cabinet, and with all of the competitions that they are in (La Liga, CL, Copa del Rey..), it is hard to see them risking it. Especially if Jozy continues to make strides as he has been doing.

With that said, it will be interesting to see the club’s decision once Nihat finally gets healthy. Either way, it looks like Jozy will be making some kind of an impact wherever he goes.

Source: AP

Well those of you who have been waiting for Gooch to really truly honestly finally make his move to a higher caliber league (which I think is all of us) can start the countdown clock, because at this point it looks like time is Gooch’s only obstacle to fleeing the Belgian Juniper League.

In this report from SI.com, it is stated that Gooch is set to reject a move to La Liga club Espanyol for another shot at the Premiership. Gooch has made his intentions to leave quite clear,

“My contract will soon end and I do not intend to sign,” he told the press. “I’ve already twice extended my contract and after five years it is time that I look elsewhere.”

Besides the Spanish club, who are said by Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws to be preparing to offer Gooch terms on a contract, Everton, Middlesbrough, and once again, Newcastle all have interest in the big American.

While it looks like summer is when we should be watching for the move, I find it hard to believe that Standard Liege wouldn’t want to cash out on such a transfer in January. Just something to think about…

While I would personally like to see Oguchi make that move to Spain, where he would be facing the quicker and craftier attackers that seem to give him problems, if the man has his heart set on fish n’ chips, bad teeth, and rain, my only advice is to avoid Newcastle at all costs. If his prior loan experience wasn’t enough to hate this idea, how bout the crisis (understatement) that club is in right now?

Also, friendly reminder…

Altidore and his Yellow Submarine take on Numancia at 11 am EST tomorrow. Should see playing time after his good performance last weekend coupled with fatigue from the Champions League draw against Manchester United. Be sure to tune it.

Adu and Monaco take on French power Marseille. If things go as they have been for Freddy, he should have about ten minutes of time on the pitch, followed by a couple prank phone calls to Jozy Altidore. Tune in for that one too I guess. One never knows when Freddy will get the call from the pine.

Enjoy.

Renken has already had trials with Arsenal, Reading, and 1860 Munich of the German second division.

Originally from Zambia and adopted by American parents, Renken is a midfielder with considerable speed and a nose for goal.

Says Tribal:

“[He] is apparently an avid Arsenal fan – studying Gunners DVDs to hone his own skills.”

Yeah, I think that’s where I went wrong — in an effort to hone my skills, I watched a lot of Pauly Shore DVDs as a kid. I can’t exactly remember why I thought that would help, but I have gotten quite good at wheezing the juice…bud-dy.

Sure Michael Bradley made his long awaited move to a German club that no one can pronounce the name of, but that doesn’t make this transfer window a successful one for the Yanks.

The big one was Oguchi Onyewu’s quiet stay with Belgian club Standard Liege. I count this as the second consecutive year where a Gooch transfer to greener pastures should have been in the cards, only to fall apart presumably to low ball offers compared to Liege’s value of the big man. That loan spell at Newcastle a little ways back didn’t exactly help his chances for a transfer that year, but interest was still present. Rumors swirled the last few weeks around every club from Lazio to Fulham being in it for the Gooch man, only to reveal that when the clock struck midnight euro time, Belgium was still his home.

Count me as disappointed. While Gooch is having a Borat load of great success with Liege (League winner’s last year), he needs to move to a league where week in and week out he will face the top shelf of attacking quality. It is simply the only way he will gain that consistency to be a rock in the backline and not a slight liability on certain days.

Another man to hang around despite some late charging interest from foreign lands was my favorite surf broski Sacha Kljestan. Despite rumors swirling about a late move to AS Monaco or FC Twente, Kljestean remains with Chivas USA, presumably ichatting Benny Feilhaber from a surf shack within walking distance of the brocean in between training sessions at the Home Depot Center.

Once again, count me as a little bummed. I had a feeling this interest in Sacha was coming a little too late, but I do believe that he is reaching that point of transition in his career where he is going to need to make the jump soon, hopefully in January.

One of the quieter rumors swirling was that of a Heath Pearce transfer to an unspecified Bundesliga club. If you have any skill in following along with context and content, you will probably figure out Heathe didn’t make his move either.

5 months and counting ’till January…

Anyway, with the likes of Maurice Edu and Brad Guzan already nestled in to their new British homes, the two U.S. men’s national team members who are most rumored to still be on the move are Michael Bradley (currently at SC Heerenveen in Holland) and Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA).

From Soccer365.com:

“For what it’s worth: Italian speculation says Atalanta could also try a swoop for Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley, but suggested they must be willing to offer €5 million…

According to Goal, an unnamed Eredivisie team has come in for Chivas USA star Sacha Kljestan…”

But that’s not all! Goal.com also recently said that Bradley has the interest of Barclays Premier League side Middlesbrough and Hamburger SV of the Bundesliga, but Heerenveen isn’t too keen (eeeee) on selling him right now. Plus, there are still those rumors that Bradley could join Freddy Adu in Monaco.

First off, I think the Eredivisie could be a good fit for Sacha — seems like a place where young players can develop and gain notice from bigger European clubs and leagues.

As for Bradley, even if he does stay put this week, you have to think that a move to bigger and better things is inevitable for him (if not January then certainly next summer). Whether it be Serie A, the Premiership, or Bundesliga, he’s definitely ready for that next step.

Where would you most like to see these guys end up? One of the destinations listed? Somewhere else? Uzbekistan perhaps?

(Can’t add pictures to this post for some reason, so just imagine it was illustrated with the kinds of beautiful images that make your eyes weep in joyous awe of their majesty…you know, those of naked ladies and dudes getting kicked in the head.)