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Villarreal says ‘No Thanks’ to Everton bid for Altidore

JozyAltidore (Reuters) 

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.

Comments

  1. I read a post from a VCF supporter on Big Soccer that VCF are letting Guille Franco’s contract run out and Jozy will be added to their Champions League roster. Has anyone seen anything about this?

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  2. The thought of Jozy being shipped off to the BPL gives me douche chills.

    I’d much rather he learn how to play real football in Spain than ‘learn’ how to have wild crosses whipped into the box all day that he can stab wildly at and hope to pop into goal like he’d learn in England.

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  3. GO Toffees!
    OK, let’s break it down.
    Yes, I would absolutely love Altidore suit up in Toffee Blue.
    There are no more striker options at Everton. Joe Baxter, 16, will one day become even better than Wayne Rooney in England (though here’s hoping he actually stays at Everton) but he isn’t ready.
    Saha, Yak, Vaughan, and even Anichebe are all injured. Everton is playing central attacking midfielder (“THE”) Timmy Cahill as the lone forward. Though Cahill is very dangerous on set pieces and has a nose, er, head for goal on corner kicks and the like, he is not a striker.
    Jozy would get major, major minutes. I would believe he would be rated above fellow young strikers Baxter, Agard, and Jutkiewicz.
    As far as technical skills go, don’t snooze on Everton’s Arteta and Fellaini. Even Pinnear has solid technical skills. Manny Fernandez was a tornado for Everton on loan when he was playing healthy and displayed great technical skills.
    Jozy can learn much from Arteta.
    But then again, Altidore has a great chance to settle in La Liga (the best league in the world) and even a great chance to play in the Champions League.
    I’d like any move either way.
    Though I’m biased. Jozy at Everton would give me another reason to wake up at 5, 6, sometimes 4 in the morning to watch the Blues.

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  4. He should stay in La Liga. Simply put, the Spanish teams show better tactical awareness, and this will improve his play for the national team. How many times has Michael Bradley made a smart pass that nobody had the tactical awareness to run onto? Furthermore, Altidore is a big strong kid, but that power will be negated in the EPL, with defending that often resembles legal mugging.

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  5. Moyes’ interest in him is a good sign for MLS. To have two top European teams vying for a player, who last year was playing for the Red Bulls, says a lot about the youngsters we have coming up in the national ranks. Villareal obviously sees a lot of good things in practice from Jozy, so they want to make sure his development doesn’t get screwed up by some foolish tackle in the EPL, which is a MUCH rougher league than La Liga. Rossi, a New Jersey product, is a terror so far this year, and I am sure he is teaching Jozy so much about the higher level of European soccer. I heard somewhere they were rooming together.

    I’d rather he stay with the yellow subs. I would love to see him get some time in front of tens of thousand of screaming fans in the Champions League.

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  6. RK – “Easily qualified”… I dunno. They managed results but at no point looked like a team capable of winning the CL. They got a fortunate draw for the next round, so they might well go through… Their form was far from inspiring though. Not to mention their lack of depth was exposed by an embarassing departure from the Copa del Rey at the hands of a lower-than-lowly side.

    Since being in 2nd place at the start of November, Villarreal has fallen all the way to 7th, only taking 5 out of 21 points.

    Everton on the other hand started slow but have since climbed to 6th and look poised to hold the spot and challenge to move up.

    I’m not saying either club is “bad”, but VFC has been the more disappointing of the two in my eyes and they dont look primed to do any climbing until they fix their defensive issues and find some more inspiration.

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  7. As good of news as that is I would love to see Jozy in the EPL but I am concerned that he may not get a players visa. He does not have that many national team caps. I do believe however much he enjoys being in Spain playing time is better than training, no matter the club.

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  8. I think its better for Altidore to stay and settle in. If he leave he will have to spend even more time settling into a new place. From a personal point of view though, I would prefer him on Everton. I follow the EPL more than La Liga, and would love to see him play more.

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  9. >Everton seems on the up, while Villarreal have been disappointing.

    That is absolute crap. They easily qualified for the next round of the CL, and were in the CL spots the entire season until last weekend’s loss to Real Madrid.

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  10. I would buy into these Spain/Portugal/Holland is better for skillful development if we were talking about Adu, Klejstan, or Davies, but we are talking about the physical beast that is Jozy Altidore…he would be right at home in a league that thrives and pace and physicality.

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  11. I would love Jozy to go to the EPL. Personally, I think it’s the best league in the world and fits Jozy’s style of play perfectly. Also I could probably get a jersey of him there!!

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  12. my favorite team in england is Fulham because of clint dempsey.

    he should stay in spain. we need creative players, and if villareal is committed to him, let him keep playing in spain

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  13. Too early, his development would suffer in Prem League. Rather have him focus on technical ability in Spain. Besides gives me a reason to watch GOLTV.

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  14. As a Liverpool fan, I’d hate it, but as a Jozy fan, I’d be very happy for him. The Prem is simply the best league in the world, and any team that actively pursues you is planning on giving you playing time. I also think the Prem is a better fit for Jozy’s strong, physical style of play.

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  15. yes jozy stay with pellegrini one of my favorite coaches.. By the way, he was my nextdoor neighbour when I lived in Santiago for a few years, at the time he was still a defender for U de Chile, very quiet private guy.

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  16. “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.”

    I don’t think I’ve ever disagreed with an entire comment as much as this one. Horrible comment bro. If anywhere in Europe, England was the best place for EJ to have any success. Hard to learn at 25? Pathetic. Maybe it’s hard to become world-class that late, but there’s no reason EJ hasn’t improved his skillset other than he has a crappy work ethic and a bad attitude. It’s even worse because his playing level has declined. I don’t give a damn what age you are.

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  17. I am glad that Villareal is keen on keeping Jozy around and want to keep him in Spain. He has only been in Spain a few months and as the season goes on he will get more playing time.
    It is good to see teams interested in him but at this point he is still adjusting to La Liga and then having to adjust to EPL through a loan deal would do more harm than good.
    All in all, I’m glad Jozy is sticking around with Villareal.

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  18. Everton seems on the up, while Villarreal have been disappointing.

    I’d like him to stay in Spain because La Liga is going to develop the skills he doesn’t yet boast.

    However, he could have more success in the Prem because of his size and strength, which suits the style of play in that league moreso than La Liga.

    A year-long loan to Everton would be great for him. He needs minutes and he’s going to be hard-pressed to get them behind Rossi and Nihat, with Llorente there firmly ahead of him. It also seemed near the end of the first part of the season that Franco had jumped back ahead of him.

    So 4th/5th forward on a mid-table Spanish side or 2nd/3rd forward on an English side? This has me hoping that the Yellow Sub rejected the offer as a negotiating tactic.

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  19. I saw Altidore and Everton in the same sentence and my heart skipped a beat! I wish that the Toffees could have gotten him, but they don’t have that kind of money. Rest assured though, if they had, he would’ve played a lot! They need striker help!

    Go Everton… Destroy Liverpool!

    Vamos United

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  20. I saw Altidore and Everton in the same sentence and my heart skipped a beat! I wish that the Toffees could have gotten him, but they don’t have that kind of money. Rest assured though, if they had, he would’ve played a lot! They need striker help!

    Go Everton… Destroy Liverpool!

    Vamos United

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  21. hell ya, i want altidore at everton… FSC shows Everton a lot more that GOLTV shows Villarreal… he’d be like the second coming of Rooney (except the fact that Rooney was 16 and he came up in their youth academy)

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  22. The best thing for Jozy is that Villarreal wants him to stay. I’m from Spain and I have to say Villarreal has one of the most serious staffs in La Liga (and as a Real Madrid fan I wish they were managing my team, not only Pellegrini but also GM Manuel Llaneza and his mates). When they sign a player they are thinking on advance. They don’t make exotic ttransfers based on marketing issues or things like that, so they are convinced Altidore could be an important player for the club in a near future.

    Villarreal wants Jozy in La Liga because it’s the best way for him to adquire the technical skills he need to be a top player, but now they can’t loan to another Spanish club (as they did in the past with Cazorla) because he has played more than 5 games this season due to Nihat, Llorente and Rossi’s injuries. Then they prefer to keep him training with the team (and playing some minutes), which I think is the best way to controll his development. In England he would play more minutes (or not, who knows), but he’ll probably use only his natural skills, which have a low development margin. With power and speed you can play at high level about 7-8 years, but with technique and other skills (combined with his natural strenghts) he´ll have a long career

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  23. The only upside that I see with a loan at Everton and the EPL is that Jozy would be obliged to develop a physical presence a bit quicker. He’s got good size & strength, but he still hasn’t learned to use them to best advantage.

    If you can’t hone a physical game in the EPL, you’ll never last. Spain, I don’t know…

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  24. I’m from Spain, and I have to say that the best thing for the guy is that Villarreal seems to be really interested on his development. Villarreal has a really serious staff, and that’s probably the main reason of their success in the last years (actually as a Real Madrid fan I wish they were managing my team, not only Pellegrini but also GM Manuel Llaneza and all his team). If they signed him was just because they think Altidore could be an important player for the club’s future, it’s not an exotic transfer made thinking on marketing or something like that. And it’s difficult to name a player who has left the club with his best years ahead.

    Villarreal want Jozy in La Liga because it’s the best way for him to adquire the technical skills he need to be a top player, the problem is that now they can’t loan him to another Spanish club because he has played more than 5 games (due to Nihat and Rossi’s injuries), so they prefer to keep him training every day on those skills and have a better control of his improvements.

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  25. Well, Everton has a lot of injuries up front and I think Jozy would step in and play some serious minutes. I think maybe a loan until the end of the season could be good for everyone.

    BUT I don’t know if a permanent move to the EPL might not be the best option for him.

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  26. Jozy has been at Villareal for 17 league games. He has played in 6 of those and started in 2. I wouldn’t exactly say he is getting no playing time. Considering he is at a top European club I am very happy with his playing time.

    If he is happy and enjoying his time at Villareal I think it is very important for him to stay where he feels comfortable. It is nice to see another English club inquiring about his services but he is in a good place right now.

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  27. “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.”

    Seriously? ENOUGH about EJ. The supposed potential of Eddie Johnson is a lamentable story, made worse at the mention that he could have done better in a place where he would have understood NONE of the culture, language, or style of play. I feel bad for Jozy that he is often paralleled with this loser. Nothing against Johnson personally, I just think that he is a prime example of an overhyped, overrated, lazy, unmotivated american player who thinks that he can walk on anywhere and make it on sheer talent. WRONG! Jozy is more comparable, at least in his journey, to Clint Dempsey who used hard work, determination and skill to get where he is…and is still working to stay there. ENOUGH ABOUT THAT BUM JOHNSON!

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  28. If he gets more PT (not sure how you ensure that) than please let him go. Pelligrini has to have a plan already and Jozy seems to be part of it. If anything he is insurance for Nihat and Rossi. In the end PT is what he needs.

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  29. Anyone who thinks it’s better for Altidore to be the #6 option for Villareal instead of the #2 or #3 option at Everton is intellectually bankrupt. He needs playing time, and this could be an unbelievable opportunity for him.

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  30. “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.”

    Well when your two choices at striker at the moment are Lukas Jutkiewicz (19 year old Pole) and Jose Baxter (16 year old), I think Jozy looks pretty appealing…

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  31. Everton have alot of injured strikers at the moment, Saha, Yakubu, Anichebe and maybe Vaughn. I think Altidore would almost start immediatley for them. Plus as others pointed out Moyes does develop good young talent, Pineaar, Osman, Fellaini, Anichebe, Gosling and Rodwell.

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  32. From a purely selfish standpoint, as someone that loves Spain and follows the league, I just want more Americans in La Liga (the main reason that I follow Rossi).

    From a VCF standpoint, they really need to keep Jozy for insurance. They have the CL, and they’ve had many injuries.

    And Pelligrini seems to be an excellent manager. Add that to the fact that Jozy is surrounded by absolute quality, it is a great place for him to grow. I just hope he doesn’t grow accustomed to quality midfield play like Villarreal’s while he starts for the US in the next World Cup 🙂

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