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Reports: Timbers make big offer for Lescott

Joleon Lescott of Manchester City celebrates his goal

Photo by Greig Cowie/ISIPhotos.com

By RYAN TOLMICH

The Portland Timbers have reportedly offered a $2 million deal to former Manchester City centerback and current free agent Joleon Lescott.

The 31-year-old English defender is not currently under contract after being released by City at the conclusion of their 2013-14 title winning campaign. Lescott played in eight Premier League games and 22 total Manchester City contests this past season.

The Timbers’ reported interest in Lescott has been matched by Premier League teams Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United as well as Turkey’s Galatasaray, with each club having had talks with the player in recent weeks. Lescott has reportedly already turned down an offer from Galatasaray while talks have stalled with QPR and West Ham due to salary demands.

In addition to his time at City, Lescott has played for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton. He has been capped 26 times by the England and has scored one international goal.

The addition of Lescott would boost the Timbers’ centerback corps, address a major weakness, and come after the club traded long-time defensive mainstay Futty Danso on Monday. The Timbers have conceded 24 goals this season, which is third worst in MLS behind the Houston Dynamo and Chivas USA.

News of the Timbers being interested in Lescott was initially reported by ESPN’s Taylor Twellman.

What do you think of a potential Lescott addition to the Timbers? Would he help solve their defensive problems? Think he would have to go through an adjustment period in MLS first?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I know quite a few British expatriates living in Portland. Most are extremely happy. There seems to be something that attracts them to the area and eventually they find it appealing enough to stay. While it’s far from England and that, amongst other things, could be a deal breaker, I don’t think the culture shock would be as significant as some American cities.

    It’s clear Portland needs to do something to shore up their defense. This is an interesting attempt to address that need.

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  2. The elephant everyone who says he won’t move is ignoring…..

    He might actually like winning. Something QPR and West Ham are not in danger of doing in my lifetime. No one wants to be stuck in those situations. Look at Henry, Keane, Defoe, Villa and on and on…
    Portland solves the D problem and they are in the running for best team in MLS.

    If he already rejected Turkey and is going to have to move in England anyway…I say he comes here.

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    • By “in the running for best team in MLS” you mean the team with the lifetime record of 36-39-41, and which currently sits 14th out of 19 teams?

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  3. Lescott is worth more then two mil but not to a mls team. If mls teams had six dps I’d say go for it. But since there is only three most dps need to be offensive type players. Mls ups the dps to 5 or 6 then we can talk Lescott, even though id think he be great player for Portland.

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  4. Fulham just released Brede Hangeland. The Timbers could get him for $2million, maybe less. Brede come home

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    • Hangeland was terrible this year. He seemed to age five years in six months. I’ve long been a fan of his, but watching him get beat repeatedly and carelessly give away possession in dangerous places all season has just been painful to watch.

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      • Very true. He wasn’t very good at Fulham this year. He is not a good option for any team in MLS. Since he is a US citizen, I wonder if he would be subject to the MLS allocation rules.

  5. i believe Aston Villa is getting in on the action now too. can’t see him coming to MLS for $2M. i guess we’ll see.

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  6. Why not get bocanegra on trade, or a top mexican defender or south american. If he comes and it’s worth the money, right on but timbers need more drogba than lescott or both 🙂
    I would still go for bocanegra or gooch, but if he comes and brings connections with him like tevez or some other man city player, then he is definite worth the money.

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  7. Wonder if Lescot has visited Portland yet. You hit a PNW city on a pristine day and it has a way of making one ask themselves, “I can get paid to live here?”

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    • He was here with Man City when they played a friendly against our then USL side in the summer of 2010.

      Honestly don’t see this happening, but certainly won’t complain about the Timbers FO actually trying their hand at the market for a clear squad deficiency.

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      • Except that was played at University of Portland’s field which holds only 4000+. That one is grass, maybe he’ll be confused. He probably spent more time at the Nike campus.

    • If they’re really only offering $2 Million for Lescott, what would they offer for Gooch? Is he worth DP numbers? Probably not…so I’m not sure he’d come back for what they’d offer.

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      • Porter isn’t looking for braun, needs dustribution and leadership on back line. The only way Gooch would happen in Portland is through incidental allocation and probably used as a trade piece.

  8. How the hell does Twellman have the inside scoop on EVERYTHING these days? He should move into investigative reporting and leave the commentating to someone with less traumatic brain injury.

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    • I read he turned down Galatasaray, which had offered him a boatload of money, because he didn’t want to move his family. Welp, Portland is a bit further from England than Istanbul.

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      • Yeah, but there’s a difference between moving to Turkey, and moving to the US. Still far of course, but obviously it’s much easier for a English family to settle in to the US.

      • That’s true. Suppose it’s a question of rationale. Did he turn down Gala because of the distance from England or the cultural dissimilarity? (And before anyone says, “Dude, Istanbul is a great (half-)European city,” I know; I’ve been there. It’s a great metropolis with a lot to offer.) Still, Portland is a 10 hour flight from England. That’s a long distance for someone who’s concerned about moving his family.

      • Yup…an east coast team would make more sense is he did want to come over. I’m curious what Portland would offer him, financially, though. He’d obviously be a great addition, but he’s not a “sell shirts” kinda player. What’s a defensive DP worth?

      • He’s not that good to be worth $2 Million. Is the best (MLS) central defender even making half that?

        Dude is athletic but that’s it. Like an English version of Mikael Sylvester. Not a distributor of the ball but works hard, jump high to win air balls but relies too much on athleticism instead of his brain.

      • Helium, the current timber CBs are nothing but athletic. Lescott would still be an upgrade in distribution skills and positioning. Sylvester certainly was.

      • Helium, he’s not the best, but Omar Gonzalez’s base salary for this year is exactly half that.

      • Having been to games in Portland, I wouldn’t be so quick to label them posers, which is more or less what you did. If we had a football culture like that in every city, MLS would be the top league in the world and the US would be a threat to win the world cup

      • Kansa City got destroyed in CONCACAF: crappy defense. Yes, high quality defenders are worth it.

    • Can’t see him moving from a team that won the EPL to an MLS team in a relegation battle…oh wait…scratch that.

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