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Report: Onyewu close to deal with Sporting Lisbon

Onyewu (ISIphotos)

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Oguchi Onyewu's tenuous club situation may be close to getting settled.

According to a report from Portuguese outlet A Bola, Onyewu is close to signing a deal with Portuguese power Sporting Lisbon.

Onyewu was loaned to FC Twente this past season from AC Milan, but the Dutch club did not act on its option to buy Onyewu's contract outright. He is still under contract with Milan, but reports from Portugal suggest that Milan would let Onyewu go on a free transfer.

Sporting Lisbon finished third in the Portuguese Liga last season and will participate in the 2011-2012 UEFA Europa League.

What do you think of the potential move for Onyewu?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Berlusconi is indeed one of the biggest scumbags EVER in the long sordid history of (not just Italian) politics. That said, he has nothing to do with Gooch’s lack of playing time, as he leaves the day-to-day operations of his club to the football people. (He’s got a country to run, underage prostitutes to see, etc.)

    Gooch shouldn’t have gone to Milan in the first place. He was coming off a strong GC, but playing time in their star-studded lineup was always going to be tough to come by, even before his injury.

    I hope he gets back to where he was, but at best he’s a star-caliber player in a second-tier league where he defends against big physical forwards. Quick forwards who play a ground game and can press have always given him trouble. For all his physicality and strength in the air, Gooch isn’t very fast, can’t turn quickly, and is very poor with the ball at his feet. Add without consistent playing time, it’s almost impossible for anybody to read and anticipate the game at the necessary speed to compensate for his weaknesses.

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  2. Not dissimilar to the situation with college athletes soon-to-turn pro in the other American sports. Really shameful stuff.

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  3. Lucio is 33 as well, and he’s dirty. Gallas (who is tipped by many as being one of the EPL’s most resurgent players) is above 30 if my memory serves me correctly.

    The argument that 29 is ‘old’ for a CB is simply ridiculous. What you CAN argue is that he may not get much BETTER than he is now. And how good is he now?? At least good enough to help Twente have a strong season and look bad against the world champs with a team lacking any chemistry and also lacking many starters or even contributors.

    Yes, Gooch has been disappointing; no, Gooch is not too old to play meaningful minutes (or a marquee role) on a respectable team.

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  4. The Chandler angle is weak — that is a coincidence and is not enough to warrant a hire as a Nats coach.

    Everything else, I would hastily agree. In my opinion Bradley’s most gaping flaw is that he clings to players who have absolutely no business being around. I think a new coach at the beginning of the WC cycle was / is necessary to sever these ties; to start fresh with the player pool and not have any selections due to off-the-field inklings.

    I agree with all the points on Klinsmann; it’s good to hear a little more knowledge about his resume. The Bayern sacking was rather untimely (and personally I disagree with sacking a manager before the 2-year mark; they have to gel as much as the players have to). And it would be hard to argue that Klinsmann would not have had the squad figured out by (at the latest) the Spain friendly; I still see the Spain friendly as a huge waste of 90 minutes.

    I just don’t know if he would have won us this GC. Besides, I feel like back when we were hunting for a coach, Klinsmann was quoted as saying he didn’t want to do it.

    The point on his restructure of the youth program, however, is enticing.

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  5. For the same reason that people shouldn’t say “he should go to Germany or England.” Because teams in those leagues have to want him. And if they don’t, he can’t very well go there.

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  6. Puyol is old, Gattuso is 33, Ricardo Carvalho 33, as a CB you can play and still perform well at that age, Gooch is only 29, he can still offer all his experience to Sporting for another 4 years at least!

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  7. I love Gooch. Sure, he’s not in good form right now, but for whatever reason, he’s one of my favorite Nats. Given the lack of depth at CB for Sporting, this could turn out well. I just hope he can play on a regular basis and just get back into his groove. He may not be the Gooch of 2007 ever again, but the guy is a beast and would still be a good option for the USMNT….even if it was just for depth and experience. He just reaaaallly needs to get some PT, otherwise, there is no point in calling him up.

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  8. I remember when Hill was at Wolfsburg. I had him and Dzeko as my strikers on FIFA back then. haha

    He is on loan to a Portugese team right now, Aves.

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  9. And I respectfully disagree with your disagreeing…

    You are right that in football terms, 29 can be old, especailly depending on the posiiton, But I think you’ll find a lot of top flight defenders much older than Gooch. So much of being a CB is expereince and ability to read the game. Sometimes a guy is in his late twenties before he even starts to peak as a CB.

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  10. IVES!!!! I for one would love to see an investigative article on influence of sports agents for a lot of our young players in the past few years. Gale’s sitchee really brought it to light, but it seems like it’s more widespread–there are a lot of sharks out there that have really cut some really promising players off at the knees.

    I get the attrition rate from young talent to established superstar for lots of reasons, but we’re so quick to blame coaches and players yet these guys are a major part of the puzzle that (too) often hides in the shadows.

    I think that if the fire BB/Sunil crowd got as irate with feckless agents we’d possibly see some real changes.

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  11. AC MIlan WAS a bad move. Being an overpaid sparring partner for a starting squad is not the same as being a starter. That and the injury have really taken a toll.

    Gooch, much like Adu and Altidore, NEEDS to get out of the club wilderness, find a place where he can play. MLS Turkish second league, dunn’t matter. Cat needs to find a place where he can play. I’m not sure Lisbon will provide that.

    How does that translate to caps? It leave room for folks like Ream and Gonzalez and even Bocanegra, but he still has a chance to get back to being a dominant force in teh CB pool.

    It begins being on the field playing though–this deal smacks of being paid. Maybe he needs to take a page from CD9 and come home for a bit–even on loan.

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