ManU, Chelsea, ManCity, Liverpool all interestedhttp://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_7233711,00.html and his agent seems aware of the interest.
Is MacLean American? If he is, well, that's not the way a Yank would talk. If he's British, I'm less skeptical that the quote is just flatout made up.
Canadian actually, go figure eh? Here is his company: http://www.santiosport.com/santio/home Mainly MLS players, no real ties to England from what I can tell. He does however have a pretty good list of clients from a North American perspective. In any event a Skysports story about teams in the EPL wanting a young US player, no matter how vague they may be, is always a positive.
I always love the comments by readers at the end of articles like that. This one cracked me up: real good player but hard to judge if you only see him in the MLS, i would like to see hime at a smaller club to start but he is exciting to watch. Can't really see him at Chelsea (too michanical) City, United, Arsenal or maybe somewhere like Everton. get hime used to the league. Pity we can't produce players like him. well we have Barkley at Everton but none with the tecnique like Brek. Ha. That's funny....................... It is interesting to note that scouts from some big clubs were watching him against Honduras. I thought he had an OK game. His cross did lead to his goal, but I didn't think it was one of his better matches. He's looking comfortable with the USMNT now, but needs to start making more of an impact.
In case people didn't see this from FC Dallas........... http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/soccer/post/_/id/13732/fc-dallas-responds-to-brek-shea-rumors We have no information regarding any talks or communication around interest in Brek from any Club," said Cesar Velasco, Senior Director of Communications & International Business Development for FC Dallas. "He is signed until 2015 and our intention is for him to be part of our organization for the long term." As Velasco says, FC Dallas re-signed Shea to a new contract this season that runs through 2015 and FCD is making it quite clear they want to keep the young midfielder. Even the chatter and rumor around the club indicates FCD has zero interest in selling. No matter what they say, every player has his price..................and they most assuredly know about "interest in Brek." Maybe official talks/communication hasn't gone down, but they know about the scouts from around Europe watching his matches.
Maclean works with Patrick McCabe. Same company, but you might hear McCabe's name a bit more. edit: Also, all this is some Skysports writer following up the rumor from last week by calling Brek's agent.
No, it's separate. Seltzer called Breks agent about the Man U, Man City, Chelsea rumor, which his agent laughed off last week. This new article is about Liverpool and and Man City being at the US/Hon match on sat.
I wonder where MLS puts his pricetag at? I'd say he's around if not more than Jozy depending on how he keeps playing. Jozy was 10milion USD.
It's the same deal though. The team doesn't matter to the UK press. The just put what they see fit. No need for facts. THey'll add "such and such watched such and such at such and such game" every week or so until the have a nice big history of rumors.
I was thinking the same until the goal he set up. I rewound on that play and watched it again and noticed he did a great job playing simple, making a run to find the return pass, then sending in his cross. Then I went back and watched other Shea attacking plays -- both before and after that -- focusing on his runs off the ball. They were exceptional. The play where he ran diagonally into the box, received, and took a quick shot. No one on our team makes that play that fluidly. The only question I have is whether this was such a weak Honduras back line that he won't be able to repeat it. We'll see. But his performance on Saturday -- at least the first half that I have been able to watch so far -- struck me as very good.
Can't see him getting any playing time if he signs with the big four. What happened to Gabriel Obertan? Better off in Germany.
youth was one of reasons why Jozy's tag was so high. He had all the right tools and was ready for a couple seasons of developing and adjusting and would still have been younger then what Shea is now. It took a bit longer for Jozy due to some questionable loans, but he's righted himself. 10M is a hefty price tag and the 3 year difference between Jozy's departure and Shea right now is a big difference.
the announcers said it best during the US/Honduras match about it being silly for him to move overseas to ride pine at this point in his career. He's just cracked the US national team due to club play. If he goes abroad to a big club and sits, he falls from favor. With options like Dempsey, Donovan, Williams, etc. to step up (even if its moving them from a different position) you want to keep getting those callups and playing time. A move to the big 4 would be foolish. Perhaps a move to Holland or Germany would be a better fit, but even Germany he stands a chance to ride pine. I'd play another season or two in MLS, especially given that his tag will be pretty high b/c MLS/FCD dont want to just sell him for pennies (in their eyes).
I don't put much stock in this article, but it has a price tag and a proposed loan situation so it is interesting to look at.
In Germany, most teams won't buy a player unless they're serious about playing them (as a starter, sub, or CL/EL depth player). Brek would probably start on a mid table club.
It'll be interesting how much influence the league office has on the price, compared to the influence that FCD has on the price.
Man U could be very interesting. At first it might seem he'll be stuck on the bench for a year or two, but Man U is usually pretty good about loaning out young players who won't see much time for them. The rumor above suggest Man U would be ok with loaning Brek back to FCD for a little while. One thing that looks pretty clear, is that Brek will have a multitude of options. Hope he chooses wisely.
I'm not. At some he'd compete for a starting spot, at others he'd come off the bench for a year or two, and then at others he might be loaned out for a year, to a mid-table EPL type team. It's not as black and white as many make it seem. Depends on the club.
We will never have elite players if management or the player is afraid to play at the biggest stage. I don't subscribe to the idea that a player goes from MLS average to World Class by simply playing. In fact one could argue that Jozy Altidore's loan stint to Hull City negatively affected his growth. Shea should reach for the stars because he very well might grab one.
I always crack up when i read that in English articles. I recall reading once an article about a man having an attractive daughter that he'd no doubt be forced to beat off the neighborhood boys.