Charlie Davies is considering offers from Ajax, Roma, Celtic, MLS, and Scandanavian clubs

I think the article said they were 'trials' no? (or implied).

Other great news: Charlie is one of the 3 finalists for the Hermann Trophy!

What a day for Charlie!

 

Hmmm.... Ajax or Columbus? Roma or Columbus? Anywhere in the world or Columbus?

Sorry, Sigi.

 

I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb here and say that Davies will be one of our four strikers in '10 if he stays healthy and goes to a Euro club where he will get playing time. I think he's a better prospect than Cooper, for example, and will be more mature than Altidore in '10.

The kid is very talented, and he is a legit forward and not a tweener like so many of the other guys we've had in the past. He has the full package -- strength, speed, skill and a finisher's mentality. In the right environment, he could take off in four years' time.

If JK is the coach, it will be interesting to see how he nurtures a world class forward prospect. How on earth did Sigi bring Jacob Peterson to the last WYC instead? Well, at least, he found Feilhaber and Wynne out of nowhere.

It's a good time to be a Nats fan because the younger generations are simply getting better and better, and we haven't even scratched the surface of our potential.

With all of the great developments in MLS recently and the greater willingness of European clubs to give our young players a meaningful chance, I'm feeling pretty good. I've almost forgotten this summer already.

 

By the way, does anyone know what Ajax's depth at forward looks like? On the surface, it would seem like that would be his best option of the three mentioned.

Roma would be great, but getting PT there would be a serious obstacle.

 

Why Celtic? To the best of my knowledge, he would have to get a work permit--no Euro heritage--right?

 

His dad's from Africa - I want to say Gambia but my memory is fuzzy - so he may backdoor into one via some colonialism angle.

As I said on the YNT thread about this, he needs to pick the team where he's got the best chance at getting playing time with the first team sooner rather than later.

Best of luck to the kid, I'm certainly pulling for him.

 

Good point re: back door.

Wonder why Bordeaux isn't currently mentioned, since they were after him.

 

i like how davies is going about this... mentioning all the clubs to start a bidding war... many of our future yanks abroad could learn from this

 

cripes, this kid has a following

 

This kid has serious talent.

 

I've been pencilling him into my forward lineup on those numerous '10 WC team threads along with Altidore, Donovan, and Cooper.

He reminds me of a more explosive Carlos Ruiz.

 

I seem to remember that the Scottish league's foreigner rules end up playing out differently--IIRC, there's a league-wide foreigner allotment, the standards for who they are aren't as rigid, and the Old Firm never have much trouble bringing in all the foreigners they want.

 

A club like Ajax always has a fluid situation. Right now, Huntelaar is the king of the land and even Markus Rosenberg can't get any PT there and he is valued at ~ $6M.

Move the time table to June (Ajax isn't likely to sell in Jan .. unless it's Rosenberg) and Huntelaar is probably gone to a (pick one) AC Milan, ManU or Arsenal and the competition is on again.

Roma is deep too but, last year, it was running short on strikers but Shabani Nonda was still infrequently used.

I say, if you can go to a big club, go. Fight it out with the best players (not literally) and not the Joey Franchinos of the world.

 

Financial security is number one.

 

From a completely biased USMNT-based point of view, I have to say that ANY talented young American who has the chance to go to Ajax should. They've got to be the gold standard in talent development. They won't look at Charlie as a "what have you done for me lately" player, but rather as an investment that will pay large dividends in a few years when they can sell him to a top club in Europe. Go for the Dutch treat, young man.

 

Davies could benefit from learning the game at Ajax, but it might be a while before he saw any pt there. They currently have Huntelaar, Rosenberg and Babel who could line up at striker. Both Rosenberg and Babel could be gone by this summer, (I personally think Huntelaar will not go for another year, although it is possible) however, and if Davies catches on, who knows?

For a variety of reasons, I'd love to see another yank follow in the footsteps of Hamel and JOB at Ajax. I'd certainly rather not see him at Roma. The club plays tremendously negatively, and I've heard that the environment there is not that conducive to the development of raw players. (I could be wrong about that last bit, though.)

 

The BS frontpage has a link from the Union Leader that looks more specific and it adds Marseille into the mix. It says if he doesn't like the MLS contract:

http://http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Davies+turning+pro&articleId=00369527-8d05-4ee5-ad8a-ca631eb01a93

 

Would you be saying the same thing if it was .... Anywhere in the world or DC United? or RBNY? or Chivas USA?

 

correct link below:

http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=00369527-8d05-4ee5-ad8a-ca631eb01a93

This minimum must be regarding the Netherlands ...

Ya, at this point, I would.

And I am not even a fan of Louis-Dreyfus's money. (though I loved Elaine on Seinfeld)

 

http://www.eurosport.com/football/netherlands-eredivisie/2006-2007/sport_sto1015054.shtml