Photo by ISI Photos
U.S. national team goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s dream of playing in the English Premier League will have to wait.
Guzan was denied a work permit after a panel in England ruled on Thursday that he did not meet the requirements to receive one, a source with knowledge of the transfer proceedings told SBI on Thursday.
What will Guzan do next? He will return to Chivas USA and play out the 2008 season, which happens to be the final year of his current MLS contract.
What do you think of this decision? Share your thoughts below.
Uh, sorry Matt, but I think you’re wrong. The SPL is not judged the same as the EPL, even though it’s the same home office, because part of the appeal judgment is whether the player is of generally recognized skill to raise the overall profile of the entire league in which he plays.
I don’t know whether that’s reflected in the ease celtic, rangers, livingston and others have had in signing non-eu players but I wouldn’t be surprised.
As a Villa fan, I am pissed that we didn’t get him…but I don’t think MON pays for Carson anyway…As for Guzan, there is always the next window to move on somewhere…
Just echoing some of the other comments, it’s a shame he couldn’t transfer to either. Would have been good for him, good for MLS, and good for whichever team he went to. Now it pretty much sucks for everyone.
I had heard people complain about smaller clubs not playing by the same rules as the big 4 when it came to work permits before, but I really did think Brad’s would be approved on appeal. If dwpbnm is correct about there being a year waiting period, where would he go this summer? Does Germany not have work permits? I’d love to see him in Serie A or La Liga, but I think they have limited international spots per team, or some sort of WP, which is why it’s harder for US citizens to play there. Someone who knows care to elaborate?
Auxerre and Olympiakos were interested in him at one point, or at least that is what skysports reported
Haig – you gotta realize that a lot of people who comment on Ives’s blog are not that smart. I think some of the most ludicrous opinions on this sport that I’ve ever read, I’ve read here. Zero reflection on Ives, just saying . . people say the dumbest stuff here.
With that said, this sucks for Guzan and it sucks for us. My dude isn’t gonna get the bucks he could’ve gotten, and he’s not going to get the training and experience that he could bring back to the international stage.
Patience is a virtue – I hope things work out for him at some point.
ummm… Tony in Quakeland. The UK IS a country. It is not a nation.
When Convey had his permit rejected it was widely reported that you could not apply again for a work permit for 1 year. The work permits are UK work permits not England or Scotland work permits. Unless this rule has changed in the past couple years this means Guzan can not sign with a UK team(EPL or SPL) until at least mid January 2009(not sure if its the date of application or the date of rejection that starts the clock). I can’t see Guzan turning down offers from the continent in order to wait for potential offers from the UK, as a result Guzan is headed to the continent either this summer or next December when his MLS contract expires.
“At this rate, we’ll be stuck with Howard as our starter in 2010”
Please explain your implication that this is a bad thing. Everton are in fourth, a Champions League slot, with Howard in goal. He’s one of the top performers in England.
He won’t be playing out the entire 2008 season with Chivas USA, he will be gone before the end of the season or MLS gets nothing for him.
Well said Amit.
Just to toot my own horn one last time before finally shutting up (fine it wasn’t “last week,” it was three days ago):
“Rather than get in to how crazy some of these theories are, as always, I’ll just point out I can’t see how he’ll get a work permit to play in England, even with Aston Villa appealing what’s sure to be an initial rejection.
I’m pretty sure the reason it’s easier in Scotland is because obviously the home nations all have their own separate FAs, it’s as simple as that. And if this drags on for another 3 days and falls through guess what? Guzan is going NOWHERE, because the transfer window will be closed.
I don’t see how there is even a decision to be made here. It’s Celtic or bust.”
MLS would have gotten some money, big Brad would be on a team playing in Europe every season, blah blah blippety blah.
Unfortunately, MLS is the real loser here. Guzan will go somewhere in the next year or so. MLS, however, won’t get paid to lose his services, a shame.
Hahnemann has a German passport, Howard had more national team appearances AND had Man. U. in his corner.
the question now is whether Aston Villa tries again in the summer. He got one star in the Copa America last summer, so if he starts the two Barbados qualifiers he could make a case for being the unquestioned #2 keeper behind Howard, if that makes a difference.
In order to get a work permit on appeal, you have to prove to the board that the applicant is providing skills that could not be readily obtained in England. How many American keepers need to be starting in England to make it clear that they are a commodity worth acquiring?
Now Villa is going to have to pay 12 million pounds if they want Carson simply because he is English. They could have had Guzan for a third of the price. I’d be pissed if I were a Villa fan.
If I were a Bundesliga team, I’d be lining up some money for Big Brad II come August, before his price gets any higher.
Hanehmann has an EU passport since both his parents are German. Therefore he didn’t need to meet the 75% requirement.
Howard’s mother in Hungarian so he could have gotten a passport too, but I think he won his appeal based on the evidence that it was impossible to break into the starting XI with Keller/Freidel in front of him, he had an exceptional case.
This sucks for MLS.
Guzan is a free transfer at the end of the upcoming season.
As Matt said, this WAS the appeal. Anyone who thought he was going to get it on anything other than an appeal must have been drinking the Kool-aid. In this instance the intial application was a formality because he flat out did not qualify. Then he was rejected on appeal.
I called this last week. He should have signed for Celtic. Here it comes: TOLD YA SO.
how could Howard and Hahnemann have gotten work permits if Guzan cant. Hahnemann has 1 more cap than Guzan and has been playing like over 10 years longer.
This was the appeal folks.
And while the panel may have taken a different view had it bene Celtic, they certainly won’t in the same day, since by the book the standard is the same. Plus, there is not enough time for another club to go through the process.
Confirmation of the deal being dead from villa’s web-site:
http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~1230385,00.html
England must work to keep itself English. It’s no good for morale to show them that Our #2 or 3 keeper from an inferior league is better than Scott Carson or any keeper they have.
This deal, while pretty bad for Brad right now, could be good for the Goats in the future. Not only do they get to keep onto Guzan, but they’ll probably get a higher fee in the future. Let’s be honest, does anyone see this kid getting anything but better?
Maybe i’m misreading it, but it sounds to me that the application was denied outright. Which means it didnt meet the bare 75% requirement and I’m assuming that means the process didn’t even go to panel discussion yet. So I think an appeal can still be made.
Villa should do what Arsenal did for Vela. Take the Guzan transfer and then loan him to Belguim or Portugal for the rest of this season and then try again for the WP for Guzan in the summer if he has a few more big game caps.
How pissed would Villa be if he was given a permit to play for Celtic?
“BPL = Barclays Premier League
Sucks for Guzan, he should have gotten in there.”
I automatically assumed since I see it referred to around here as the British Premier League (not an abbreviation) every once and awhile. My bad.
This was the appeal? Do we have a link to when the application was turned down? I’m not doubting that it was, I guess I must have missed when the application was turned down.
BPL = Barclays Premier League
Sucks for Guzan, he should have gotten in there.
And whoever said BPL, it’s not the British Premier League. It’s the English Premier League. Disregarding a handful of crossovers, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales all have their own league systems.
The application was turned down. This WAS the appeal. This is dead for the current transfer window. It is hard to see how he gets approval for the EPL in the next year or two.
That. Sucks.
If Guzan can’t win on appeal, he sould stay in MLS and get USNT call ups and play more often nationally. If he goes to Celtic, he’ll get the same international windows as Howard and Keller.
Guzan can compete for the starting GK job playing in MLS plus get all the USNT call ups he wouldn’t get when the international window is closed (i.e. Sweden game, when the US fields a MLS heavy side).
Legally, they have to deny it because of the 75% rule. He has to appeal it. I believe Johnson had to appeal, Dempsey had to, Howard had to, ect.
I believe his transfer to Villa can still go through after the window passes. Because the transfer was already agreed upon by the two parties before the window closed (in what, around 6 hours I believe?), it can still go through.
Appeals are extremely common.
I have no idea if this is the issue, but the “extraordinary talent’ provision (or whatever it’s called) may be relative – that is the threshold may be lower for the SPL, therefore making it easier to qualify? (Pure speculation here.)
By the way, the UK is NOT a country. England is a country. Scotland is a country. Wales is a country. (Northern Ireland is another matter.) That’s why each has its own national team. The UK is a political entity, an association of the countries within it. Scotland has considerable internal autonomy, including its own parliament and capital.
i think the thinking with Celtic is that they are also a large and powerful club much like United which will help them get it passed
he should stay in the MLS till the summer and then could transfer for even more money
APPEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The FA might be trying to protect it’s number 1 gk Scott Carson b/c he’s not that great. The second time is the charm APPEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wouldnt he have to get a work permit from the same panel to play for Celtic? If so I think it’s pretty much guaranteed Guzan will be in MLS for another year, I dont see Chivas selling him mid-season.
I believe Tizzle has a point. An appeal may go through. It may be jusy part of the legal process in England. So there may still be hope. But can it be pushed through before tonights deadline??
Yeah, it was my understanding that the application would almost certainly be denied (because Guzan is so far from meeting the criteria) but that the appeal would be granted. Isn’t that usually how it works, especially for GKs, who almost never meet the 75% standard.
And, legally speaking, why would it be any easier to go to Celtic? Wouldn’t Celtic just have to apply to the exact same UK Home Office panel that just denied Aston Villa’s application?
Aargh! Same laws in England and Scotland! UK is one country. Ives! Stop this!
Doesn’t come up to often, but wonder if there should be an exception to the 75% rule for GK’s. Since unless you are a country’s #1 you aren’t really going to see playing time. It’s not like the other positional players which might see random minutes here and there, even if they aren’t starting games.
Selfishly I hope he stays at Chivas USA. Such a great keeper makes the league better. Though I’ll eat my words when playing against my ‘Quakes…
Yeah wouldn’t he automatically be rejected at first and then have to appeal because he hasn’t played in 75% of the USMNT matches? How does that work with the transfer window?
I thought there was an appeal process, just don’t know how long it takes.
That sucks! If he can appeal, I hope he does and can get to move to Aston Villa.
They can appeal though. He should be able to get it on appeal. Just look at the history of American Keepers in the BPL.
I think Scotland has a bit of its own automony, so he may be able to work something out. Dammit! At this rate, we’ll be stuck with Howard as our starter in 2010
Pathetic decision.
That is just rediculous!!! If Villa was BIG 4 Club it would have happened. Celtic????
Saw this coming. Shame too. But at least he has Celtic.
That is too bad. Would he have the same problem with Celtic, since Scotland is part of the UK???
If he stays with Chivas USA, probably means Matt Pickens would resign with Chicago.