Photo by ISIphotos.com
U.S. national team fans weren't the only ones who caught a glimpse of Kenny Cooper's performance against Guatemala on Saturday. Scouts from several European clubs, including German club Eintracht Frankfurt, were also in attendance at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and the interest in Cooper should only continue to grow as it becomes increasingly unlikely that Cooper will be signing a new deal with FC Dallas.
Cooper is preparing to head into the final year of his current contract and negotations over a new deal with FC Dallas have stalled, sources with knowledge of the talks told SBI on Thursday. With Cooper seeking designated player money, and FC Dallas offering in the $325K to $375K range, look for MLS to do it's best to sell Cooper in January in order to avoid losing him for nothing after the 2009 season.
Here are some other tidbits to go over in the MLS scene:
Depending on who you believe, Landon Donovan's loan move is either a done deal and the first step toward a permanent transfer, or a possibility still being worked out. According to an LA Galaxy spokesperson, no Donovan loan deal had been finalized as of Thursday, but as we learned from the David Beckham to AC Milan loan, where there is smoke there is fire. The real question at this point is whether Bayern Munich will offer a price suitable to MLS and the Galaxy for Donovan.
For those of you who missed it, here is my piece for ESPN.com on the Donovan loan, with some very interesting comments from Bayern Munich manager Juergen Klinsmann, including the following quote:
“Now (Donovan) comes in as a mature player, as captain of the U.S. national team, as a World Cup player,” Klinsmann said. ‘He’s a far more confident player. He has the physical capabilities, he has the technical capabilities, and at the end of the day it’s like any other sport. It’s a mind game. Are you really confident enough? Are you a fighter? Are you a warrior? Are you hungry enough inside?
“I think he brings all those things and it’s going to be interesting to see in the next couple of weeks how he’s going to decide his future.”
Sounds like a coach who really wants Donovan. Now can he convince the Bayern board to buy Donovan?
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Galaxy boss Bruce Arena was in Jamaica for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier between Jamaica and Canada. No word yet on specific targets, but you would imagine defenders are high on the Galaxy's shopping list.
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Rumors are starting to swirl over Alan Shearer's potential move to become Newcastle's manager. If that happens, you can all but pencil in current Toronto FC John Carver as Shearer's assistant. Sources tell me that if Shearer is appointed to replace Joe Kinnear as Newcastle manager, Carver would stand a very good chance of joining him. Stay tuned for more on that situation in the coming days.
That's all for now. I'll check in with more news and notes throughout the day so be sure to check in.