Grand-On Donovan

I was wondering exactly how long it would be after the recent big MLS announcements before Landon Donovan piped up and tried to put himself front and centre. I will state right up front that I have never been a big fan of Landycakes Donovan and preferred to look to players such as Clint Dempsey, DeMarcus Beasley and Claudio Reyna among others as potential role models for the American youth.

Courtesy: NY Daily News

Apparently now Donovan has suggested to the media that he may have already received some ‘intriguing’ offers and would be open in a way he hasn’t been before to leaving the US. Although his talent is there for all to see I sometimes thought that his attitude was what held him back. It certainly looks to me that he likes to be the one all the camera flashes go to, he basks in glories and media attention. With the arrival of Dempsey, this has been somewhat lacking for the Galaxy man recently.

So what opportunities might these be? Europe would be the first guess, having been there numerous times before. In his younger days he signed a contract with Bayer Leverkusen but couldn’t adapt to German life and so moved back to the USA. Fair enough, he was a young guy and maybe it was too much to soon. 2005 he moved to Galaxy and has had to relinquish the Captaincy twice, once when David Beckham arrived and then this season for Robbie Keane. He got in trouble for his criticism of David Beckham to a reporter rather than to Beckham directly and was probably not too pleased with the reaction and had to apologize.

In 2008 he was loaned to Bayern Munich and played six matches before his loan period ended. The German side chose not to extend the contract. The next year he did have better luck with Everton where he played 10 games, scoring two goals and named the clubs Player of the Month. This time the club did want to extend his loan but the Galaxy denied the request. Rumors were flying that he would join Everton or another English club in the summer transfer window but nothing ever came to fruition.

2012 he did eventually return to Everton but didn’t have quite the same impact as his first stay and returned, once more, to America. My question is that now he is 31 years old what club could come in for him in which he would thrive? Certainly reading into his own words it would be a permanent move away from LA Galaxy and not a loan option due to his saying he was open in a way he hadn’t been before into leaving the US.

Manchester United look to have missed out on Fabregas and are looking for an attacking midfielder. Would he go there? I highly doubt it, even though his ex Everton boss is now there I think their attention is and should be on tried and tested European match experienced players. The same would go for every other top European club. So maybe smaller teams in the Premiership, maybe, but why potentially get yourself in a relegation race or mid table battle when you are Landon Donovan, American Soccer’s poster child.

Unfortunately I think that any great European aspirations that Mr Donovan may have will have to stay as dreams. Personally I believe that the real reason for this media statement is much more sinister and he will be contracted to a US side for the rest of his playing days. I go back to another part of his statement where he said ‘I’m still going to speak with the Galaxy and see how they value me’. I think it is purely a political tool to get his pay deal closer to the new boy on the block Clint Dempsey who, with his Seattle deal, seems to have blown Donovan away. Consider Dempsey’s guaranteed  compensation for 2013 is double Donovan’s $2.5m.