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Yedlin closing in on $3.5 million move to Tottenham

DeAndre Yedlin (17)

By IVES GALARCEP

DeAndre Yedlin’s crazy summer appears ready to take its most significant turn, with a month of speculation ready to culminate in a move to a club that hadn’t been considered a player until very recently.

Yedlin is on the verge of completing a transfer to English Premier League side Tottenham, with a transfer bid in the $3.2-3.5 million range expected to be enough to bring the speedy right back to the London club.

First identified as a front-runner for Yedlin’s services by ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman, Tottenham will let Yedlin finish out the 2014 season with the Sounders before Tottenham determines the best course of action for Yedlin come January.

What do you think of this development? Like the idea of Yedlin going to Tottenham? Think he should stay in MLS?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Yedlin has some things you can’t learn; he has outstanding speed, he has very quick feet and a great sense of balance. He also has the ability to be tactically aware and has shown growth in the maturity of his decision-making. With his physical attributes and what appears to be a willingness to apply himself to training, he is an outstanding prospect for any club. FWIW, Julian Greene seems to have similar attributes. With a couple more players like that and a forward that scores, the US could be formidable in a couple years.

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  2. Ugh, anywhere but Tottenham. Dempsey got few minutes there, yet was their third best scorer during a season when Bale took a million shots, and they still showed him the door.

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    • Tottenham have a way with US players as they treat them all like crap. Kasey Keller was there for a while and almost single handedly kept them up during that period and the Spur fans never had anything good to say about him. White Hart Lane is the only place where the stadium is full of ‘world class managers’ on match day. I hope it works for Yedlin but I am skeptical when it comes to them.

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  3. I will start watching the spurs more if Yedlin starts getting minutes.They have never been one of my fav’s, and I can count 4-5 EPL teams I would have sooner watched before this signing, including at least one London based team. But as it stands, I get to have one really big vacation every couple of years, so I might even hop on a plane if I think there’s a good chance to see Yedlin playing in an EPL match. And seek out the spurs on TV early on Saturday mornings? Absolutely!.

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  4. i’m so back and forth on the idea of this move. i’m glad to hear he would finish the season with Seattle though.

    what rubs me the wrong way is that Spurs don’t even know what they will do with him. it seems, like others have said, they just pulled the trigger on a cheap US player who is young and someone they can likely flip for a profit. but hopefully he’ll find a way to get time there or will get a quality loan.

    Roma seemed like a team that would be just as hard to break into, but it’s hard to complain about a defender going to learn in Italy. either way, i think Yedlin has the right mentality to go and i’m sure he’s getting plenty of advice from Dempsey.

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  5. Have to say I started watching Spurs because of Dempsey. So US viewership is a legitimate arguement. Have to say the organization is in a bit of uncertainty right now. New manager seems good but Levy seems to love to run them through. Only one player I really like on that time, Saldado. I really don’t feel that there is any real loyalty toward the players actually. But, I would be interested in Yedlin’s performance but I really don’t see him starting past Walker. guy’s got fearsome pace. No much of a defender. If Yedlin can do better there, maybe. He might get some time in Cup games or Europa but otherwise I agree with others that I’m not sure I like the move. Levy is SHREWD! He’d sell his own Grandmother if he could get a profit. Loyalty…Seriously lacking. I know its business, but just a little respect and loyalty would be nice. Don’t see that with Levy AT ALL!

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  6. USA can only produce Defenders and goalkeepers, and that’s about it. Hopefully kilnsi talks to MLS coaches and academies and pressures them to put more time on producing more number 9s and 10s .
    For example, Mexico is producing so many fowards that they have an inventory of them and they want to go to Europe but now the owners are asking for higher prices and they are staying in ligaMX.
    Maybe MLS should go get those mexican fowards and give them DP money, give them 3 year contracts and sell them to Europe.
    That’s why I would like ronaldinho, maybe his fat but he can teach a lot skill and tactics to the youth of MLS and help America produce a number 10. I would add adu and ronaldinho to galaxy next year.

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      • You are making his point for him. He mentions quality and depth. Now, I think the US has gotten better and I take umbrage when people don’t recognize that, but we do not produce a deep pool of strikers produced within the US. Think about it:

        – McBride contemporaries: Josh Wolff, Clint Mathis, Ante Razov (none of those were anyone to write home except maybe Mathis in his own mid)

        LD/Clint generation was much deeper, but these are their contemporaries at attacking players
        – LD & Deuce contemporaries: Jonathan Mapp, DeMarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson, Taylor Twellman and Brian Ching. Not bad, but how many were/are really impactful on the international stage.

      • “You are making his point for him.”

        Not really.

        “USA can only produce Defenders and goalkeepers, and that’s about it.”

        The guys I mentioned were very good over a fairly long period of time.

        Mr. Paso did not specify quantities. Most countries have trouble producing outstanding attacking players but Mr Paso said nothing about that. He did not say the US does not produce forwards of the quality of Forlan, Suarez and Cavani at the same time.

        Dismissing the three US players I mentioned as non existent is just ridiculous.

      • Given the age of their league and lack of any other competing sports, Mexico does not seem to have the greatest track record of exporting talent to Europe. I’m not familiar with the current talent, and maybe I’m missing it, but who else have they produced besides Sanchez, Chicharito, Dos Santos, and Guardardo?

      • In addition to all those players there was the great Hugo Sanchez who played for Real Madrid and Luis Garcia, who played for Atletico Madrid ,Bolton’s Jared Borgetti.
        Pavel Pardo and Ricardo Osorio wjho played for Stuttgart and of course Guardado who played for Deportivo La Coruna and now Valencia..

        And all did well there.

      • Do you know what, you are right. I must have read his message really quickly and saw what I THOUGHT he was saying. His comment does not make sense unless he speaks of quality and quantity which Mexico does beat the US at doing.

      • GW, agreed, in fact has produced a really good foward in the pastn5 years. Unless you think Chicacito is great which he is not!
        JS

  7. All I can say is:

    WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY Spurs?
    Can’t I ever get a Yank at a team I root for and NOT their arch-frickin’ rival? And here I have been championing Yedlin since the moment he hit the filed. And he does THIS to me? SPURS?

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  8. I’m a huge huge spurs fan. Tottenham is doing this bc levy sees a great bargain. At that price this is a steal and they should turn a profit and there’s no risk. Also Tottenham clearly over the last couple years have wanted to get in the US market and this would be a big step towards that of course. Now for actual playing he wouldn’t play at all the first year and in fact there’s no chance he’d get a work permit in England. It’s too late to loan him back to Seattle so they’ll either do a pre contract agreement with him until after the season or loan him out somewhere else. Tottenham also have a young promising rb coming through their ranks and his name is Ryan Fredericks

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    • I’m an even bigger Spurs fan. 🙂 Yedlin will play in some capacity this season. Walker will likely go down injured at some point and we will need a RB with speed. Fredericks is completely overrated and would not label him as “promising.”

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      • Walker IMO has not become the player he could have. He has quality but also has one or two wtf moments every game.

      • @joe COYS!!!

        The thing is yedlin won’t get a work permit though. I do agree he’s a lot better than Fredericks right now no question. Is he better than Naughton? That’s a debate but yedlin has miles more potential than him and he is prob getting sold anyway

  9. Italy would have been great because of their emphasis on tactical awareness and excellence in defending. Awareness/IQ is Yedlin’s biggest weakness at this point, but I think any move overseas to a big club puts him in a competitive situation that will be good for his development.

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  10. I’m not discounting Yedlin’s talent, but I think Tottenham viewed the oceans of red Manchester United jerseys at the stadiums over the past few weeks and said, “How do we get the US Stadiums to turn to Tottenham White?” Answer: Sign an American.

    As the EPL soars in popularity here in the US, UK clubs are keen to raise awareness of their brands here.

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  11. Why do I get the feeling half of the people commenting are praying he doesn’t play ?

    Times have changed son, you can no longer rip on American soccer players and the domestic league to try to prove to random readers that you are a great soccer watching genius. We just saw DY play against Tottenham, they are a good solid team, but nothing that he can’t handle.

    Maybe he starts, maybe he is still a few years away….either way quit rooting for the gap. It is annoying.

    I would suggest moving on to lacrosse or another more developing sport.

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    • There is definitely a significant portion of this community that seems to hope for failure whenever a US player or MLS player (less so) moves abroad. Kinda like don’t you guys know how bad your league and how much better everywhere else is….ridiculous.

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    • Word. I am so sick of getting the sense that so many people root against certain Yanks Abroad, especially any that would reflect well on MLS. They remind me of the people who get all resentful when thier cult band gets a mainstream hit…

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      • I loved the two references in your posts: (1) cult bands getting mainstream and fans saying “they [bands] were better when no one knew them” like the bands don’t want to make more money and (2) ” Word”. I haven’t used those in a long time: word/dope/fresh/solid/money
        (as in you money or you are money). Haha…classic!

  12. My thoughts? They (Tottenham) are not game-worthy. But other than that I am all for seeing the general discussion turning away form Yedlin to other more important things.

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  13. Bad move… Tottenham have been buying up promising players and somewhat stallin their careers over the last few years…

    Wages will probably be better than anywhere on the continent though

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      • Man, one relatively young player being sold for a profit, that really proves me wrong.

        Yedlin is no bale…

        Plenty of more established youths have gone to Tottenham and haven’t received much opportunity to play.. I don’t think its a good move for Yedlin

      • When Bale went to spurs he was kind of like Yedlin, He was a defender that wasn’t too interested in defending. Bale might not be starting RB but they might move him back to Mid… Where he played in college. He just needs to develop a few more moves.

      • ehhh No! Bale got better over time he struggled to get games in his first season and was coming off the bench a lot in his season and started making his mark towards the end of his third season.

      • Bale was not a fan favorite for awhile. Spurs were 0-24 with bale on the field. I’m not sold he was a free kick specialist until 2012-13 ish.

      • Spurs have sold more than him I just used him as an example and u say most don’t make it we’ll that goes for every team out there

  14. Doesn’t he have to play a bunch of national team games (70%+, or something like that) before getting his visa to play over there? Has he reached that? If not, I hope he gets in on a bunch more before the year is out so he can make the move.

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    • Ya, but its a somewhat flexible rule. Getting WC games helps with that.
      Also Yedlin is like 1/4 Latvian so he may have gotten a Schengen passport.

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      • The Schengen passport is interesting, haven’t heard about that before. I’ve read on other sites that Yedlin getting an actual Latvian passport would be quite difficult.

      • We don’t know all the details, but his maternal grandfather was born in Latvia. When he left partially determines if he can pass on his passport. There are some Latvian language requirements (actually making it difficult for Latvia born Russians who aren’t of Latvian heritage to qualify for ), but it appears those are for naturalization, not for those whose parents/grandparents left because of the Soviets.

    • It will go to arbitration and JK will have to explain that Yedlin is a big part of the USMNT going forward and of course will point to his WC play.

      Guys with shakier records have gotten their permits though it’s probably a harder sell these days.

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  15. This was a stupid decision. I believe he would have developed his technicalm skills (like it did Bradley) and would have had a better chance of playing at AS Roma. I guess time will tell

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  16. Even if you don’t need a player at that position, if he is a good buy, which I think he is at three million, then you can make money selling him for more in a few years, which I think they will end up doing. A bit of speculation.

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  17. Gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Tottenham will loan him out immediately. Hard for me to see him getting time on that squad.

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    • Yeah, Walker is pretty much a 1-for-1 replacement for Yedlin, and one of the few guys out there who has the same kind of speed.

      Seems like there’s a lot of other teams out there who need Yedlin more than Tottenham does.

      Strange buy for Tottenham, on the face of it.

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      • Eveyone is looking to incorporate the USA somehow into their club. Sunderland did it with DC United for example.

        Tottenham is about to get a huge USA fan base if this goes through.

      • Maybe a huge Seattle fan base. Outside Seattle though, does Yedlin really move the needle in terms of TV ratings? If no, then I don’t really see where this huge US fan base is going to come from.

      • US and DC United fan here. It’ll at least have me watch Tottenham more. Whether I become a fan depends on if I like what I see and if Yedlin become a regular team member.

      • Every American Outlaw now has a reason to watch Spurs. Even if Yedlin is in Seattle, people will watch just to see how there current right side looks.

      • AO supporter here, I have no interest watching those turd roosters. The way their fans treated Dempsey (via message boards), I can only hope they somehow find a way to get regulated and Yedlin never plays for those idiots.

      • As someone who has been an Arsenal fan for the last 15 years, I’m gonna ignore that comment. :p

      • Makes a lot of sense for Tottenham, actually. They can groom him as a perfect like for like backup for Walker.

    • Ya, likely. Although, I’m not sure Danny Rose is actually better than him. Rose does have more experience however.

      I hope Yedlin gets sent to a Championship team so he actually plays.

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      • +1
        Rose is slow and has lost a step – they need to replace him and Yedlin wold do the trick – but he’s on the left.

      • Ur right about him being on the left but rose is anything but slow. That’s his only asset. He has no positional awareness, loses the ball, and can’t put a cross in

      • Yeah same thought with the loan. Either Championship or one of the Benelux countries.

        Hard to break into the team mid-way through the season.

    • I don’t disagree, but at the same time, Yedlin has surprised everyone at every point in his career. He wasn’t expected to get minutes last year with Seattle, but locked down the starting spot immediately. He wasn’t supposed to make the WC roster and then wasn’t supposed to see any minutes.

      My point is that there hasn’t been a challenge he hasn’t risen to yet, so I’m not counting him going on loan just yet.

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      • Not questioning Yedlin, and he absolutely needs to play in Europe, but Tottenham is a tough place to start your career as a young player. They have not been patient in developing homegrown talent recent years, spent a lot of money on brining new players (and not even playing some of them), and generally lacked stability with coaches/players/tactics/identity.

      • Agree with Eurosnob, patience is not a strong suit at Spurs. seems like an odd move from both sides.

      • I would disagree – it may be the Spurs of past but their new coach is known for his ability to grow homegrown stars.

      • Mr. snob,

        Most top half clubs in the top Euro leagues are short on patience. Given the expectations that is no surprise.

        The deal maker here for me is Pochettino.

        The guy did an amazing job at Southampton with a player pool that was largely unknown. So it is clear he has an eye for talented players young or old and will play them if they earn it.
        If Pochettino is the man behind the move for Yedlin and really wants him then Deandre needs to get to London ASAP. With a guy like that in his corner (see Owen Coyle and Stu Holden) Yedlin could hardly have a better manager at this stage of his career..

      • Man I don’t know… I struggle with this one. I agree that Yedlin seems like the kind of player Ponchettino would target based on his track record and apparent preferences, I would think he’d be much better served spending 100% of his attention and resources on players who will be ready and available to contribute immediately. The shelf life of a Spurs manager has dipped into “caretaker” territory for all courageous enough to take it…. Levy wields the axe early regardless of the man’s profile.

        The real problem in my view is that the culture at Spurs has decended utterly into deal addiction. If I were a front office personnel VP there, I’d take zero confidence in seeing a guy I’d plucked from obscurity at a bargain price three years ago make the PFA shortlist…. not if the guy down the hall was noisily celebrating a closing of two more random guys named Traore of limited known ability. Point is he closed two deals and you might as well pack your bags if they had anything structurally interesting about them. Nobody remembers who signed players or why. Probably chalk it up to some long-departed coach or discarded strategy… nobody cares. Unless, of course, you are working on a deal to offload him.

        I’d like to feel that they are noticing the ceiling that this banker mentality will continue to impose on their situation. But I doubt it. For now Ponchettino can build his reputation by finding neglected value in the side he identified (seeing the value Southampton realized n their fire sale probably makes Levy believe that he has another $200-300 million trapped in the couch somewhere. Poncettino finds some of that, he may have some more juice. But I think it’s possible Yedlin may have come up as an option organically, in which case I’d concur that he’d be likely to support it enthusiastically.

        Certainly, I am speculating hardcore in any case.

      • Ali Dia,

        What I find interesting about your post is how it encompasses all the stereotypical SBI fans prejudices about and fears for USMNT players heading abroad.

        “Yedlin is an American, he is too young, he will be lost in the shuffle. “ Poor stupid, naïve, discriminated against American victim. Too stupid to get out of his own way.

        It makes me wonder why such a dumb kid got this far so soon.

        I like to think that Deandre and his advisors, including people like Sigi Schmid, hardly an ignorant fool and JK who many of you think is an idiot but isn’t really, have a pretty clear picture of what is going on and are not all a bunch of f++king morons.

        Yedlin is 20 which is old or better yet “neo- veteran” by Euro standards.

        Luke Shaw , Pochettino’s left back at Southampton, just sold to Man U is 19, as is Adnan Januzaj a noted Man U midfielder.

        Both also went to Brazil and I would say Yedlin performed as well or better than both.

        Yedlin is listed at a transfer value of about 250 Thousand Euros
        Shaw is listed at 13 million Euros.
        Januzaj is listed at 6 milion Euros.

        So if I’m Pochettino I look at Yedlin and see a kid who:

        • Can play right away
        • Is a bargain that can be flipped in a few years for a lot more money
        • Could potentially be moved between right back and wingback, thus keeping Walker on the field at the same time.

        My understanding is that Pochettino is looking to cut out the oversupply of deadwood at Tottenham as there is talk about axing at least 7 veterans.

        If Pochettino is truly behind the move to grab Yedlin I’m thinking Deandre will get thrown in there right away. Deandre keeps confounding everyone that way .I certainly thought there was no way he goes to Brazil let alone plays as well as he did.

        He is far from the finished product but he has enough of the “shock and awe factor”, (speed, speed, athleticism, guts, smarts, speed) going on right now to play and do some serious damage. Guys like that can play, do damage and learn on the job. Especially when they are as unknown as he is and being an American, as underrated as he is likely to be.

        Of course, if Pochettino is not really behind this then forget everything I just wrote.

        Then he can go there, get lost in the shuffle and be the next Freddy Adu. Which is okay, at least he tried. Anyway, there should be lots of candidates for right back in Russia, 2018.

      • “The shelf life of a Spurs manager has dipped into “caretaker” territory for all courageous enough to take it…. Levy wields the axe early regardless of the man’s profile.”

        Too true. Ted Lasso only lasted 6.5 hours at Tottenham.

      • At the end of the day if Yedlin is the best RB he will be in the starting 11 wherever he goes. If he is the next best option at RB he will likely make match day roster.

        Yedlin has serious talent, it was on display against BM, at the world cup, and day in and day out for Seattle. So long as he is in a situation where the team will tolerate some inexperience mistakes and is not biased toward American players (which is a real phenomenon) I think he will play.

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