The race to land Oguchi Onyewu in the winter transfer period is heating up and a pair of French clubs are battling for his services.
Multiple reports out of France have Olympique Marseille and Paris St. Germain lining up bids for the U.S. national team defender, which could make for a tense few weeks. Marseille has been long rumored as the favorite to land Onyewu, but PSG has also expressed interest in recent weeks, though the club has yet to make a formal offer.
One thing is clear. Standard Liege is ready to cash in on Onyewu while it still can. His contract expires next summer and if they don't sell him in January they will wind up with nothing for him.
The 26-year-old centerback is enjoying another strong season in Belgium, as well as in the UEFA Cup with Standard Liege.
Where would you like to see Onyewu wind up? Do you like the idea of him heading to France, or where you hoping for England or Gemany? Do you think he would be better off staying with Standard Liege until the summer, when he would be free to sign with anybody he wanted?
Share your thoughts below.
or of course, as above, along side boca at rennes.
somewhere that i can watch him on FSC. Italy or England.
I don’t have any real preference but I’d like to see him at PSG only because I’ll be traveling to Paris this coming March. That’s really it.
Personally, I’d love to see Rennes steal him, where he could play alongside Boca every week. Of course, that only works for Gooch if Rennes can make a push for European soccer next year. But still, it’s fun to think about
Allez l’OM!
Would be the much more exciting option, he can help them get to their 3rd Champions League in a row. Among the 2 teams, it’s the one with the top-flight coach, world class talent pipeline, and building through up and coming players.
Look at their big summer acquisitions — PSG goes for Makelele on the last legs of his career to ensure they stay further away from relegation than last year, while OM gets rising star Ben Afra to go with Valbuena and Mananda among the future of French football
Hey guys, this came across the wire a bit ago from transfermarketweb.com
Standard Liege general manager Pierre François has declared about american defender Oguchi Oniewu, considered an O.M. target: “His contract will expire next summer and I am afraid that we won’t be able to extend it. In any case he won’t move in the next market wndow, though we know that this decision will make us loose some money; at the moment the technical factor is more important than the financial one”
He might be trying to squeeze a bit more money for Onyewu, but I don’t think it would be all that unusual for Gooch to stay the whole season.
spurs are desperate for a central defender like onewu, they should go after him. gooch can do better than the french league.
race riots in paris were exagerated. anyways there is a point there, paris has some problems and parc des princes is perhaps characteristic and not very docile. but hey it’s not a bourgeois team. PSG would be a good choice, they are having a fine year and overall Paris is great place and a big city. I live there and I might go more often to psg games if he’s there.
I’ve been to a couple of PSG games, lastly against Gent in the intertoto cup and never seen any problems. Saw a drunk PSG fan pee his pants though, thats about it.
I think it is great for him to transfer now. He gets a part of the transfer fee if I remeber correctly. SL gets paid for developing him and he gets better competition hopefully where ever he end up at.
oh right, yes, I forgot, Paris has moved past the racism problem, why it’s been three years since the race riots. since then, Algerians have been intergrated into society from the top to bottom. shall we discuss the percentage of black models at Fashion Week? (in case you’re wondering, it’s about 25-30% in Milan, fewer than 5% in Paris) or shall we discuss the popularity of Le Pen (although this is a French problem overall)? yes, the worst of the Ultras have been disbanded, but you’ll note it wasn’t the anti-semitism that did it, or the nazism in general, it was making fun of other frenchmen that really made the club take notice. this group was widely reported (at least it made the New York Times, I dunno about Le Monde) to march through the streets of Paris dressed as Nazis. that was 2006. were they banned then? what about Galteseray? that was 2001. The L’OM bus? that was 2004. the Hazout/Granomour mod incident was witnessed by the CRS, who didn’t intervene until both men were locked on the second floor of a McDonald’s and the mob was smashing windows.
so is PSG, the club, racist? of course not. do they care about racist, anti-semitic and general hooligan fans? only for their money and when their public image takes a hit due to exposure on national television inside the Stadium. outside the stadium, eh, it’s not their problem. can you imagine the monkey chant at Camp Nou? The Emirates? Stamford Bridge? Olympic Stadium in Berlin? heck, at least Real Madrid bans people caught on tape. When your comparison is “well, we aren’t as bad as Lazio or Belgrade” that’s really pretty pathetic. Racism isn’t a ‘political issue’ that clubs , as apolitical entities ‘shouldn’t involve themselves in’ as PSG liked to say up until the banner incident. So yeah, support the club if you wish, but don’t turn a blind eye to the history. this isn’t ancient history either, all of the above incidents happened THIS DECADE, and lead to no action by the club until the President of France forced their hand after the embarrassment in the Cup game last spring. The Mayor of Paris asked the club to address racism after the 2006 mob violence, 30 ‘supporters’ were banned, you’ll notice the Bologne Boys were still inside the stadium last spring.
It shoud be no surprise that hes heading to France. The majority of players who transfer from Belgium end up in France. That being said, I think he should sign for Paris. The reports of racism are exagerated. Yes, Paris is a somewhat segregated city but thats only because the immigrants from west and northern africa are poor and live in the projects away from predominantley white areas. If none of these transfers work out im sure my club Anderlecht would love to have him.
Marseille.
Yves, I think you do an excellent job with your blog, but it appears to me that you and other journalists who have been reporting on Onyewu’s perported moves (AC Milan? Remember that rumor a couple years ago?) are just doing the bidding of his agent.
I hope that you have reputable sources and are not just passing on secondhand or thirdhand information.
It would have been cool to see him go play in the EPL or Germany mainly because I would be able to see him on TV more often. As long as he is stepping up to a better league and higher quality team I am happy. The better forwards he plays against week in and week out will only turn into higher quality play for the US. Nice to see it is not going to be a loan move (not that I expected it to be) because that was the dumbest business move I have ever seen, when he went to Newcastle. Killed his stock and didn’t allow him to cash in at all.
I keep wondering if Arsenal will take a shot at him. the Gunners have been doing poorly against teams with good aerial attacks. I think Gooch would be a good for Arsenal because:
– He’d be relatively inexpensive because he’s out of contract come the summer
– He’s played twice each against L’pool and Everton so they can see that he can hold his own against premiership teams
– They need someone with a physical presence
They’d need to work on his dribbling and passing, but, for this 1/2 season remaining, I think it would be a good gamble.
Ok, start the flames 🙂
You’re right USA, a guy playing well for a UEFA team and Belgian champ is going to be purchased for a tidy sum to ride the pine. Good call. 😛
hahahah. USA hit it on the head…
for maybe $10mill US???
what Ives meant to say is where would you like to see him ride the bench next year, before he is kicked off the team and forced to come play in the MLS.
My only thing with his him moving is that I want him to go to a team where he continually starts. For example, I was a bit bothered by Bradley’s move for a while, because he went from a place where he was starting regularly, to a team where he was struggling to make the bench.
Of course, you can say its more of a challenge, and that is good as well, but I just don’t want Gooch to go to a place where one or two bad performances might banish him forever to the bench, thats all. But O’M would be my choice for him!
Marseille has its own set of Ultras, one of which was arrested weeks ago in Madrid. After Athletico received death threats, their supporters did not travel to the game. The Marseille Ultra was released from prison the day before the match.
Waiter!
There are snails on her plate!
Now get them out of here before she sees them. You would think that in a fancy restaurant at these prices you could keep the snails off the food. There are so many snails there you can’t even see the food!
Now take those away and bring us those melted cheese sandwich appetizers you talked me out of…
I disagree with you Alex… well, in part. I know NOTHING about Paris, but to say that it would be stupid to consider things other than football makes little sense. What good is plying your trade if you hate going to work every day? You HAVE to consider things other than football. I don’t know about French “racism” or Paris, but I do know every person has to base decisions on the totality of the circumstances. You can’t just say “PSG is better therefore…” You have to look at everything.
Northzax et Chris, it’s quite obvious you guys aren’t up to date with PSG. The group which you both refer and as pointed out earlier no longer exist and were not typical of PSG supportters. Please get your facts straight and hell if either of you had half a brain wouldn’t you question why on earth would Makelele, Giuly and Thuram take pay cuts to play for a racist club? Thuram’s not playing for PSG because of a heart condition but he’s still a consultant for the club and if Onyewu went to PSG, Thuram would be one of the sources he could rely on to continue his development as a player. If you want to debate my club being racist then we need to take this somewhere else. I’m black, so I’m pretty confident that I wouldn’t support a racist club.
JK2,
have you watched PSG this season? This is the most stable we’ve been in who knows how long both on and off the field. This team is playing well and these guys are working their asses off for one another. These days PSG is a hell of alot more stable than OM. Actually, OM needs him more than PSG. The hole they have in their central defense is massive and he’d start right away. He wouldn’t be able to play in UEFA Cup for them but he would address a serious problem they currently have. He would also be paired with Taiwo and that should scare the hell out of everyone whos supports a team other than OM in Ligue1. The thought of those two on the same backline is frightening.
If we can sign him to PSG that would be great but it’s also with the understanding that he would be getting seasoned for next year’s run at Champion’s League. We don’t need him as much as OM but I don’t see PSG passing up a legit opportunity to sign him.
Yeah…Parisians hate everyone, not just certain races 😉
saying “this town or that town is racist” is foolish. Unless the player or his family personally experienced racism in a certain town that argument fails. There are racists of every color in every city around the world.
Some cities are worse then others but no city is perfect.
TO PSG!!!
this absolutely kills me to say, as i’m a PSG fan, but if Gooch is thinking about his career and has a choice, he should go to L’OM. PSG is still in utter managerial disarray, look at their roster over the past 4 years, you’d think they’d at least be in the top half, but they’ve even struggled in the relegation zone. from what i gather, its mainly due to struggles in the board room and managers being flipped in and out as if on a turnstile. Go for the place that has some stability…
(crying…) Allez Paris!
Northzax, that is a very ignorant comment. I lived in Paris for a while and just came back to the states this summer, and Paris is much less racist than other cities in Europe. Much less racism there than Italy and Spain, and as for other places like Belgrade, forget about it. Also, for those not familiar with French football, the boulogne boys, the group of ultras that caused the most problems at the parc des princes was officially disbanded last year, and as far as racsim goes, Paris’ best players (Makelele, Hoarau, and Sessegnon) are black and seem to be doing ok. It is true that Marseille has more left wing fans, but for footballer to make a choice based on reasons other than football would be stupid in this case.
Hope he goes to PSG, help turn around the team in French capital.
And Holland isn’t a good league anymore!
I guess it’s a compliment that SL is making sure to cash in on him, but I just wish they’d keep him and make a run at winning the UEFA Cup. I both think they have a real shot, and the fact that Gooch is cup tied is really limiting his options for interesting teams.
psg only dealt with racism when forced to after Sarkozy was at the game where the fans unfurled a banner referring to people from northern France as illiterate pedophiles. That was last year. A group from the stade de bolougne marching through Paris dressed as Nazis didn’t do it. The beating death of a Jewish fan after a match against an Israeli team (maccabi tel aviv, I think) didn’t do it (and he was a psg fan killed by psg ‘supporters’!) psg set out in the 70s to replicate the Kop at Anfield in the worst days of English hooliganism, and need cracked down. Think about it, Parisians, of all people, as Nazis. In 2007. Killing THEIR OWN FANS. Paris, for all it’s many charms, is one of the most racially backasswards cities in Europe. It is as segregated as Atlanta in the fifties. Marseille is on the forefront of the European/north African/middle eastern melting pot. I know which one I would choose.
Nice! I hoping for an excuse to buy that Marseille argyle kit!
I was thinking that too, CACuzcatlan, but then I looked at their roster…
hope he goes to marseille. i like them alot more than psg. i think france would be great for him, maybe a springboard for one more big move to england. the defending in the french league is passive to put it politely and the gooch may end up looking like a total beast. hope it works out for him either way.
Marseille is arguably the better team, but considering the city is one of Europe’s most dangerous, and when a half-decent team in Paris is the other option, I would personally choose the latter.
Then again, I doubt Gooch has much to worry about when walking down a dark alley or through the slums of anywhere, and PSG also have a spotty history when it comes to racial issues.
Not PSG! They have some of the most racist fans in Europe. French national team player Patrick Viera said he wouldn’t set foot at at the Parc des Princes again.
The anticipation is killing me. ANNOUNCE THE VENUE ALREADY!
The Columbus Crew should throw a bunch of money at him to replace Marshall.
either team would be solid picks…. i do not want to see gooch back in england for the time being…. germany would have been solid as well, but i dont think him going to M’bach is the best option for him nor the USMN….
I wonder how he’d look in those argyle kits of OM…
I would be happy with France – the Bundesliga, for one, is not appreciably better. Plus, both OM and PSG are contending for European places, while Monchengladbach (the apparent German suitor) may get relegated. (OM is 2nd with 32 points, and PSG is 4th with as many.)
OM might be preferable to PSG as they are presently conceding more goals. In fact, OM have conceded 7th-most goals in League 1 so far.
I believe he speaks french so for that reason I’d put it over germany. England would be great because I dont get to see French games on TV but whatever. lets go goltv or fsc one of you pick up the damn frenchys since a bunch of our players seem to like it there.
PSG baby!!!
Too bad he’s cup-tied, that’s really the only downside here.
for onyewu’s sake i hope he does not end up in marseille. i spent a few days in that city a couple of summers ago on an extended tour of europe. marseille is covered in garbage and half-finished consturction. if the offeres are equal, onyewu would be a little crazy to choose marseille over paris.
I think France or Holland would be perfect for him. I’ll be happy as long as he’s on a team that is consistantly competing in European play.
He should be starting for Barcelona! No, seriously either Olym. or PSG would be great. Nice progress for Oguchi, and for US soccer players.
France would be a good league for him. If someone drops a good size transfer fee on him they will be more willing to feature him.