Everton's search for a striker has led them to none other than Jozy Altidore, but Villarreal isn't interested.
According to Sky Sports, Everton has had an initial offer for Altidore turned down, with Villarreal wanting the 19-year-old Altidore to settle in Spain.
Altidore has seen limited playing time for Villarreal, earning a pair of starts just before the winter break only to return to the bench, but he told SBI just last month that he was happy in Spain and enjoying his time with Villarreal.
If Everton could convince Villarreal to loan Altidore out, it would give the Toffees two Americans and a pair of New Jersey-born former Red Bulls/MetroStars along with Tim Howard.
Everton has several other transfer targets to fill its need for a forward, including Nigerian Olympic team standout Peter Odemwingie.
What do you think of Everton's interest? Would you like to see Altidore in the EPL? Think he's better off staying in Spain for now? Would Altidore joining Tim Howard and Everton make the Toffees your new favorite EPL team?
Share your thoughts below.
“He’s 18 years old. Anyone who expects him to get significant playing time for a, say, top half team in one of the best leagues in the world is nuts.”
We’re not expecting it, but if he has the chance to (in the case of a loan to Everton), why not?
Did I just read this in the Sky Sports article about a US player or did I imagine it?
“The 19-year-old, already a full international, is regarded as one of the finest striking prospects in world football..”
He’s 18 years old. Anyone who expects him to get significant playing time for a, say, top half team in one of the best leagues in the world is nuts. Maybe with injuries, or at a club like Everton which is depleted of forwards.
All in all, I won’t read into this any more than I should. I.E. he’s a very young player who is very good for his age, and it’s not surprising that a club would want to acquire his services.
I would much rather he stay in Spain and learn from the other excellent players there on the more technical aspects of the game. Eventually, Jozy will get more playing time there, I have to believe, given his natural attributes. Besides, I like Liverpool and would rather not see another American in the Everton lineup.
We have Howard, Friedel, Dempsey, Guzan, DeMerit, Spector, Hahnemann, EJ, Convey off the top of my head in England.
Spain – Altidore
Belgium- Gooch
France-Adu,Bocanegra
Germany- Bradley,Berhalter,Pearce,Donovan
Scandinavia- Davies,Parkhurst,Califf
Now who is having a great season for their club or was having? We need our players to be starting XI or at least super-subs? We need them to be assured of a spot, and not just a hefty payday. I say our MLS stars need to head to teams in Holland, France or Portugal where they can hone in their skill before heading to the majors in England,Spain or Germany.
No need to be a star in MLS like EJ and head to England and just be a huge flop. If he would have headed to Portugal/Holland, he could have worked on his skills.
I would like to see it, though only as a loan until the end of the season. With the injuries Everton has had I think Jozy would see some significant playing time. Then after the season he can go back to Villarreal. Probably isn’t going to happen though.
I’m pretty sure if EJ would have left for Benfica he would have been a success. His style can’t match England or Germany. He has speed and ball control, he would have been useful in Spain or Portugal. And even if he would have flopped back in 05, he would have been given time and proper advice to help himself. He would have been learning. Hard to learn at 25.
Our striker pool is quite thin at the moment.
Donovan can play anywhere either as midfield or supporting striker or up top parterned with someone.
Altidore has alot of great qualities. He has the size, ball control and potential for even more. Playing time even as a sub for Villareal will only help him. He will learn more and get good coaching aide.
Davies is a rising star in Sweden and has many talents which are seen by his dribbling, but will need to push himself more to see what he can do on the pitch not just for the national team but for his club career. Hope he heads to France or Holland.
Cooper well, he can manhandle MLS. And he has shown he is an attacking threat in the few caps he has been given, but can he play at the highest level? Over the next few months we will find out.
No EJ and Ching. They are decent in MLS, but we need stars.
Most of our players head to Scandinavia either cause their talent isn’t good enough, little chance to be seen by the bigger clubs or cause of their desire to just get out of MLS but over the years there have been some talents like Heath Pearce or Danny Califf.
Our biggest talents have played throughout Europe, most are in England or Germany. But most that go to England usually struggle, same as in Germany, but they are given a fair look. England is becoming more like an All Star League everyday. You only get a shot if you are worth a £30million transfer.
this is a great sign for 2 reasons. 1 – a consistently good EPL team like everton with a great eye for talent coach in moyes wants to sign jozy, 2 – that villareal values jozy and doesn’t want him gone permanently. a think a loan could work out, but i dont think it matters really.
finally, i’d like to firmly assert that playing time should not be the main issue when considering who to play for the national team. for example, playing time issues would not keep me from playing jozy over brian ching. jozy plays behind rossi, nihat, and some of the other very best in the world, brian ching on the other hand is one of 3 forwards on a team of much lower caliber. there are plenty of international teams that start players who don’t see much time with their clubs (paolo ferreira, podolski to name just 2). i’d take a player on the bench of a la liga team to a starter in the MLS any day of the week. any if the claim is jozy lacks experience, that’s bradley’s fault for not playing him enough this year. it’s a vicious cycle – if you play someone because of experience others dont get to earn experience. i’m not saying playing time is a non issue, it’s important, but it’s not the most important factor in making a lineup decision.
I can’t believe I’m hearing a EJ reference. When will talk about this guys “enormous potential” die??? I suspect Johnson would have been worse any place that required real work (language barriers, etc). Bottom line is that Jozy is nothing like EJ.
On one hand, it’s nice to see that J is highly regarded enough to attract attention from a pretty big club like Everton. On the other hand, I’d like to see the kid stay in Spain and become a starter there.
IGuessIDidBurp:
You’re right. I wish our future talent won’t look to the Premier League as their only possible destination. EJ would have fit in wonderfully in Portugal or Spain, but he’s getting beat up and all that in the English second division. Same can be said for Beas. He would fit in quite well with a team in Spain or Portugal or another league that isn’t as physical or demanding. And in turn, that would diversify our n’tl player pool, to have guys playing all over, not just in England.
I would LOVE to see an American starring in England, but I think it’d be better for him to learn the Spanish style. Plus, maybe learning the language will help in those big matches against Mexico.
He’s not going to get any playing time for Villareal unless all of their attacking players get hurt again – which is unlikely. He would realy have a good chance to play at Everton.
Choosing between the chance for a lot of playing time at Everton or not even making the bench at Villareal – I would choose Everton every day and twice on Sunday.
“Punt and Run” league? Have you watched the PL lately?? I’m guessing you haven’t…
And I agree with a poster above that Moyes has actually made some decent signing over the past four or five seasons (Cahill, Lescott, Arteta, Pienaar, Jagielka, TIM FREKAING HOWARD). Felliani has been good, though he will have to do more to justify the steep price they paid. The Saha signing was idiotic, seeing how he is made of glass.
Coming from a Liverpool supporter, not sure I would like Jozy at Everton, though they are so thin at striker right now (with Saha, Yakubu, and Vaughn all injured for the long term) he would likely start immediately…
Do it! At least for this year. He ain’t playin at Villareal.
A loan to Everton would work well for everybody.
How much better would EJ have been if he would have went to play in say Portugal or Spain? England is a great league but our players seem to fare better in Holland/Germany than in England.
Jozy will do the best with what he is given. I see him getting several more starts but majority of the games he will be a super-sub. Not bad since he is playing for 1 of the top20teams in the world. I’m sure he will score quite a few more before the season is over.
Let’s hope for no injuries. Always seem once a Yank is injured, his standing with a team takes a huge dive, regrettably more so than with say others. So much our players have to prove themselves everytime they are on the pitch.
Stay in Spain is my bottom line, for now.
i don’t think that a loan for the rest of the season would hurt him–he’d get a lot more playing time at everton because they have no strikers right now. either way he is on the right track…
Everton could certainly use him but I like that the yellow subs want him around. They must see a lot to still want him there
I think he should stay withe Villareal. They seem to be integrating him more as the season wears on, so i think they figure him into their plans for this half of the year.
Everton is one of my fav clubs. They are a quality side with *great* coaching. Altidore would fit right in playing exactly the same way Yukubu had been before he got hurt.
He’d get lots of minutes with a team that qualifies for Europe every year: I think that would be a good move!
Moyes spent on Fellaini, true. And on Yakubu. But almost every other key contributor was a discount buy by a manager with a good eye for underrated players: see Pienaar and Arteta as already mentioned, and then Cahill, Lescott, and Jagielka as well. Even the move for Howard, when ManU had moved on, looks like a bit of brilliance.
“I don’t want to see any more American attacking players in the punt and run league. Stay in Spain Jozy!”
Seconded, although obviously the EPL is more than just punt and run hehe. I agree that playing in the EPL would play to Jozy’s strengths. But it’s his weaknesses he needs to work on most. La Liga plays to the type of weaknesses in American soccer players overall. So I’m excited that the bid was rejected if it means Jozy will continue working on the technical parts of his game, and learns to combine them with his size and pace. Just imagine how good and complete a player he could be 5 years down the road…
im happy villareal still wants to keep jozy an jozy wants to stay there .. he says he learnin a lot so thats good..but also i dunoo cuz villareal need to give him more minutes.. jozy is a good player an can contribute to the team..u just gotta put him in
A team which has to start Tim Cahill as their striker is desperate….period. He will learn much more from Pelligrini, Rossi, Nihat than he could in Everton even with a quality manager like Moyes.
Danny,
I agree with your general point but Everton paid 15 million pounds for Fellaini so he wasn’t exactly a budget signing.
My first reaction is that a loan deal would be good. I’m assuming the deal was a loan due to the article referenced saying Everton has no money to spend and they are looking at other loan deals as well.
If in fact my assumption is correct and a loan deal was rejected I would read that as Villareal thinking his development is going good enough within the first team that more playing time (theoretically) somewhere else – even as good as Everton – isn’t neccesary. That’s awesome!
I agree with AJ, having jozy playing in spain can only help our attack, by giving it a new dynamic, something other than long balls over the top. now if we could just get boca and gooch to play on the ground a little more…
not complaining, those guys are great.
but i think villareal was a good move for jozy, they are obviously serious about developing and using him, so i think he should stay. although some minutes would be nice.
DJ,
What makes you think Moyes doesn’t have an eye for talent? With out him they’d be pretty bad.
Fellani (sp?), Pienaar, Arteta, etc were all really good signings that weren’t too higly regarded prior to his signing them.
“I know Moyes has not had the best eye when it comes to top talent but Everton is a good team in a great league.”
So what do you attribute their success to? Their billionaire oil owner that throws cash to every good player out there? Oh wait…
Stay in Spain. Let him settle. This is still a great year for him, he will play a lot more next season.
I don’t care where Jozy ends up at the end of January but just the idea that a young American striker is the first option for a top 8 EPL team makes me giddy. I know Moyes has not had the best eye when it comes to top talent but Everton is a good team in a great league. I firmly believe wherever Mr. Altidore ends up he will be successful because of his determination and attitude.
I don’t want to see any more American attacking players in the punt and run league. Stay in Spain Jozy!
personally, i believe villareal has plans for jozy longterm, whereas everton is looking for a quick and perhaps temporary fix. jozy should stay. the minutes will come, and sitting like this will only deepen his hunger.
Thank god this didn’t go through. And anyone that would like Everton only IF/AFTER this signing would go through is pathetic.
P
I think jozys size and weak first touch make the EPL a better destination for jozy then la liga which is more technical and not as physical as the EPL. any idea what the bid was?
Stay with Villarreal and their great coach, Pellegrini. He’ll get playing time as the season wears on.
Ah man! The reason why I liked Jozy in Spain was because it wouldn’t conflict with my already established bonds with certain EPL teams.
A move by Jozy (either via loan or purchase) would completely upset my EPL established order.
I hope he stays at Villareal. However, this is a big feather in his cap that Everton wants him.
A loan to Everton could be a good move. They want a striker and Jozy is riding the pine at Villareal currently. One would think Jozy has the opportunity to see more time with Everton. That’s good for Jozy and Villareal. Get him game time.
As much as I’d love to see Jozy and Timmy playing together, I’m glad that Villarreal is taking it slow with Jozy. I think he’ll start to get more minutes as the year wears on and players wear down.
so he can be loan out to non-spanish club?
Everton is my favorite team…but stay in spain Jozy (unless it is a loan).
i’d atually pay attention to the epl if this transfer went through.
which ever would result in more playing time for him…
I’d like him to stay in Villareal just for the simple fact Villareal seems to have a vested interest in his development. Clubs don’t loan out players they believe are a big part of their future plans and have high upside.
Or I could be overrating Jozy and Everton got rejected because of a low-ball offer…
Personally, I’d rather see him playing in La Liga. If he’s going to get loads of playing time, than a loan to Everton would be a definite plus.
Who knows how much Everton would actually use him though?
The EPL and La Liga are totally different. 1 can star in 1 and be meager in the other. I think it’s a good thing for them to keep Jozy with the team, even if on the bench. He will work hard and continue with his chances.