U.S. national team midfielder Alejandro Bedoya is set to follow in the footsteps of an impressive list of current and former Americans to play for Scottish powerhouse Glasgow Rangers after agreeing to terms with the club on Thursday.
Bedoya confirmed the agreement on Monday, and is now awaiting the securing of a work permit to finalize his move from Swedish club Orebro to Rangers, where he will team up with U.S. teammate Maurice Edu.
Rangers had been working with Orebro on a transfer for Bedoya for this summer, but after failing to reach an agreement on a transfer deal, Bedoya secured a pre-contract with Rangers on Thursday. Bedoya will move on a free transfer and begin a three-year contract with Rangers in January if he is able to secure a work permit, Bedoya's agent, Lyle Yorks, told SBI on Thursday.
Bedoya was enjoying a strong season in Sweden, and is coming off an impressive showing for the United States at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The former Boston College standout will now play for the same club that former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna and American winger DaMarcus Beasley previously called home.
What do you think of this development? Like the move for Bedoya? Think he can shine in Scotland?
Share your thoughts below.
True, but they usually do not last very long in Europe, so it often amounts to just a few games.
Rangers are a great club but the SPL is awful. Rangers play very few really competitive games outside Celtic and whatever big boys they meet in Europe.
Hopefully Bedoya does well and uses this as a stepping stone to bigger and better.
Really. Note how Sweden (ranked at about 26) isn’t on this list.
UEFA league rankings by country
Rank2012 Rank2011 League
1 1 England
2 2 Spain
3 3 Germany
4 4 Italy
5 5 France
6 6 Portugal
7 7 Russia
8 8 Ukraine
9 9 Netherlands
10 11 Greece
11 10 Turkey
12 12 Denmark
13 13 Belgium
14 16 Switzerland
15 19 Austria
16 15 Scotland
17 20 Cyprus
18 17 Israel
19 22 Croatia
20 18 Czech Republic
dempsey born in TX, Keller in WA
I’m not thrilled about the move. Except for Champions League and games against Celtic, it’s not really a step up in competition. I’d rather see him go to a decent team in a better league, like the Netherlands, than see him go to the champ of a minnow league.
Bradley is way better than Edu, so there’s that.
elapsed time until Bob Bradley comment:
1:55
has to be a new record
Turkey? really?
I think Tigres has employed the most Americans outside the US. That or that obscure team in the 4th division of Belgium
Agree on the Bradley part
That’s not a breach of his current contract? Or does he in fact have no contract at all??? That’s some Don Draper sh*t!
(SBI-Any player in the final six months of his contract can sign a pre-contract with another team, which gives players time to find new employment if their current situations are going to run their course. Beckham did the same thing when he signed with LA before leaving Real Madrid.)
Well, they will probably be out of the Champions League, but there’s a very good chance they’ll be in the Europa League, so He’ll most likely have a crack at some European football. (They played Sporting and PSV in Feb and March respectively last year)
WRT mid-table Dutch teams, people seem to focus on the “technical” aspects of the league and the Dutch tradition of developing talent, but is the Dutch league really that competitive? There are great players that cut their teeth in that league (eg. Ronaldo, Ibrahimovich, etc) but also plenty of players that destroy in Holland and then fall flat in bigger leagues (eg. Afonso Alves, Mateja Kezman).
This sucks why can’t we get Americans in skill leagues instead of hack leagues that’s one reason we’ve fallen behind Mexico wever had more cautasrophic injuries due to players playing in hack a man leagues. Thou Chicharito will get hurt too.
This sickens me that were going to lose another player due to playing in a hack league suck as Holden, Edu, Convey, Beasley the latter two falling off the natl radar permanently
And yes, Edu and Bedoya will get to work together an gain chemistry…if they stay healthy at the same time (doubtful) but it won’t matter. They can have the chemistry of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis but it won’t matter cause as long as Bradley is coach Edu will be firmly planted on the bench behind bob Bradley jr.
apart fom the injuries edu has had. I like that bedoya is moving up but like others I worry he’ll get injured
I don’t want to hate on anyone for realizing a dream, and probably cashing a bigger paycheck in the process, but I would have preferred him wait til he was an actual free agent and what offers he had then.
I’m not a Rangers or SPL hater, but Rangers will be out of the Champions League in all likelihood by that point, and the SPL doesn’t offer great quality week-in, week-out.
Obviously he can’t make a move where he doesn’t have offers, but my ideal place for him to move to would have been the Dutch league or a low-mid table Spanish league.. alas if there were no other offers for him, at least he goes to Rangers knowing that he is wanted.
So there is a strong case to be made that Shea is the best player in MLS right now based on form, but Shea is definetly they best younge talent in the league, maybe you can make an argument for najar or aguedelo but minutes and results mean more than anything else to me.
He won’t transfer until he does something for the USMNT. Euro teams still don’t respect MLS results until they are validated by international duty.
Kasey Keller and Norwegian Brede Hangeland was born in Texas…
As a Celtic fan, so would I, but that squad is way too packed. Rangers is a better place for him to play
No league has worse reckless tackling than MLS.
Still gonna have to go with fulham on this one:
Marcus Hahnemann
Eddie Lewis
Brian McBride
Eddie Johnson
Carlos Bocanegra
Clint Dempsey
Guess he’ll have to get some of those youth shinguards with the ankle brace/protection attached to him. Wish him luck and success though. This could turn into something really good.
For the work permit, isn’t it based off the percentage (maybe something like 75%) you’ve played for the NT in the past year? If so he should come close on that one
Rangers’ official site now confirming that he will arrive in January 2012.
Sucks that he will miss the Champions League experience this year.
Best player in the MLS? Are you related to Shea? Hahaha.
If he goes to Europe he’ll cost a few million at most. Remember, Dempsey and Altidore were much more hyped (not saying they were better when they left) and they went for $4 million and $10 million respectively.
Great move, and now we have 2 guys to check out in Rangers matches.
It’s a precontract. My guess is that Rangers realized they could get him in the winter on a free, in addition to Ale having to do the work permit appeals process which will take time. Smart moves.
Nevermind, story updated.
Haha no problem brother.
Maybe I missed something but all his twitter says is: “In Glasgow n just agreed to terms w/ Rangers! Crossing fingers Work Permit goes through! Thanks for the support! #Blessed”
$10 million?!? Brek Shea?!?!? insanity
His diving will be quite handy to avoid injuries.
Also confused.
Oh, thanks. I looked right past the post where my Red Bulls got trounced. I saw the highlights and part of the game, that was bad enough
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2011/07/mls-rewind-rapids-trounce-red-bulls-sheas-blast-downs-tfc-and-more.html
Ives DID post something for the Dallas game…
I hope his car doesn’t get firebombed.
Pre-contract per his twitter
I hope he’s out of there next year. Something tells me he will be…
Ives didn’t post something for the Dallas game, but, Brek Shea is the best player in MLS. He’s gone next summer, and I hope MLS gets their money’s worth, b/c he’s worth $10 Million at least. I’d love to see him play for a good team in France that plays in Europe
Yea is this agreeing to pre-contract terms for a move in January or is this Orebo accepting a fee and Bedoya agreeing to terms?
Nice move for Bedoya, hopefully he fits into the squad well and gets ample playing time for them. They’re in European tournaments all the time, so even if the SPL is nothing great he’s got a chance to test himself against top flight European teams at the very least.
Yeah I’m confused as well.
Wait…is he moving now or in the winter?
I thought that Orebro had rejected the move, but Bedoya could move as a free in the winter transfer window. Is that what’s happening or did Rangers come back with a better offer to Orebro?
This was rumored during last summers transfer window. An appropriate step up for Bedoya, although SPL is a weak 2nd tier Euro League. Would have prefered to see him in Holland,Portugal,or Turkey.
Perfect place for a scrappy attacking player to get some better exposure. If he can stay healthy that is.
Wish he went to England or Spain, but maybe he will get noticed by a premier league team now
What about Edu. I would say he did well there too.
He will get injured. Worse reckless tackling in SPL than MLS
Well from an exposure standpoint it’s a step-up if he’s looking to get to England. Just protect those ankles young man
good for Ale! Great opportunity.. never thought he was a SPL player but hey if Rangers wants him..
which team has employed the most Americans now? Rangers? Fulham? anyone else?
Argh. I hope he stays healthy.
YES