Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
Alejandro Bedoya's strong season with Swedish outfit Orebro and impressive showing at the Gold Cup has made him a target for some top European clubs, but Orebro isn't ready to part with its American midfielder just yet.
According to The Daily Record in Scotland, Glasgow Rangers, the same team that employs U.S. midfielder Maurice Edu, had its transfer bid for Bedoya rejected.
Bedoya's contract with Orebro expires at the end of the Swedish season this winter, so he could potentially join Rangers, or any other suitor, on a free transfer at the time. Another Scottish outlet, STV, reports that Rangers will offer Bedoya a pre-contract agreement in hopes of landing his services in a few months.
What do you think of this development? How do you think Bedoya would fare in the Scottish Premier League?
Share your thoughts below.
i think he should hold out. i am not a fan of the SPL
I don’t think he needs one. Either EU or EC international trade agreements to which Great Britain as agreed trumps the FA’s Home-grown, work permit rules. If you hold citizenship in an EU country, I don’t think the FA can require the work permit like the do for Eastern Euros, Americans and everybody else.
sbi staff please tell me when did Bedoya assist or scored a goal ? Please get off Bedoya’s payroll I know he is paying you to defend him. Please review my posting history during the gold cup i said he sucked and other posters cosigned for me and said you overate him. He gets to nervous when he plays for the nats he does not belong on the nats sorry the truth hurts sbi staff bedoya is over rated and he is not good. Orebro blockedthe bid because they did not want him to look like a clown being a water boy and bench warmer for rangers.
Would rather see him in Spain or Holland. Hell just get hacked and injuries galore like EDU with Rangers and Holden in England
Ives come on please tell a time where Bedoya assisted or scored a goal for the nats. He gets to nervous when he plays for the nats. Please get off Bedoya’s pay roll I know he is paying you to defend him. Also that is why orebro blocked the bid they wanted to save him from embarrasment at rangers being the water boy and riding the bench in scotland.
He was just invisible to me he did not make a impact in my opinion. I watched everygame, but the loss game where we lost to panama.
Bedoya is horrible you all overate him. He is not good he did not even initially make the gold cup team . He could not even make the world cup team over a still injured stu holden. You need to check my posting hostory. Because during the gold cup i said he was horrible and other posters cosigned for me saying he sucks and is over rated also.
If you remember correctly, Stu had a TRIAL at Burnley. They were interested. Coyle went to Bolton and brought Stu with him (thank God.) It wasn’t a case of Stu choosing a team to play for; there was a manager who liked what he saw and signed him.
The problem with Rangers is, besides Celtic and the occasional “big club” who usually knocks them out of Europe, they never play any decent opposition.
The SPL is total crap.
It’s a higher level than Sweden but Rangers are so much better than the other SPL teams that it’s usually not a very competitive game.
The other problem is, unless things have changed recently, they have been broke for some time now so they can’t buy anyone. Part of Mo’s problem is he has no competition for his place, so he’s gotten kind of soft during his time with Rangers. If he wants to improve he should get himself into a more challenging situation.
If McCoist and Rangers really want Bedoya then that’s great for him and he’d be a fool to turn them down but, in the long term, I would hope Bedoya eventually finds a better gig.
Haters gon hate. Glad to see you don’t eat crow, like a true fan
You either didn’t watch the whole tournament or watched with your eyes closed. Bedoya was widely hailed for having a pleasantly surprising impact off the bench. His workrate was tremendous, he won balls, he energized the attack and fit seamlessly into it. The US was noticeably better when he entered games. This is the first time I have ever seen anyone criticize his Gold Cup performance.
No Abu, was good off the bench. Bedoya was invisible on the field and had inconsistant passing in my opinion.
LMBO, learn not to plagiarise from wikipedia Einstein. I am not trolling. What I said was right. Learn to read before you post. And do not copy and paste from youtube, cheat.
And who are you ? I have never heard of you. Well you must like my post since you take time out of your non excistant life to read my post. You watch US soccer then we can have a convo without your ignorance.
Ranger is a big step up from Sweden especially considering that they are in European competition every year.
I don’t get the aversion to Rangers. I’m not SPL fan, but it’s better than Sweden and it is the offer available. I’d rather he go to a club that WANTS him not a club his agent barely convinced needed him and get no playing time.
If he plays well and proves himself at Rangers the big clubs will come knocking, there is no doubt of that.
dweeb
Well it’s more like 6 to 8 Champion’s League games (home and away if they have to do qualifying round and 3 home and 3 away in the group stage) plus the possibility to graduate into the Europa League if they don’t make it out of the group stage. If you look at last season the played M United, Valencia and Bursaspor in UCL before dropping into the Europa where the played Sporting Lisbon and PSV Eindhoven. In 07-08 they played 19 European games on their way to the Europa final. Rangers and Celtic offer players a chance to play in Europe and I’d argue that the experience of big games with group stage and cup dynamics does offer valuable experience to National team players. Is it worth playing lesser quality teams for the better part of the regular season? I guess it depends, but the question is by no means cut-and-dry.
World class? Brazilian example not household name (What does that have to do with OC’s point?)?
1. You employ a false dichotomy (Rangers= perpetual mediocrity, Mystery club he should hold out for= chance at greatness).
2. I think you rate Bedoya too highly. At 24 how much more will he develop (certainly not enough to develop into a world class talent or “household name”)
3. Who cares if a player is a household name (marketing + talent + luck= household name)? I thought you addressed OC’s argument about Andre Santos vs Marcelo poorly with your response.
A little off topic, but how does MLS rank compared to the lower level European leagues such as Sweden/Norway and Scotland? Are all European leagues better than MLS? Does MLS compare favorably with leagues in Brazil or Argentina or Mexico?
Not really though. If he is out of contract, he can contact teams and go and “train” or go on a “trial” with any club. If they like what they see, then they might offer him a “deal”. Stuart Holden did this for Bolton and it seems to have worked out for him.
I think it all depends on what Bedoya wants, if he wants to become a worldclass player one day he can’t waste his time on a club like Rangers, yea they’re good, but hardly anyone moves up from there. If his only goal is to be a player and possible starter on the nats then theres nothing wrong with the move. Your Brazilian example, while although the player is a good player and a part of the nats he is not some household name. All great players had to compete against starters at one point to become what they are.
To me it depends on what Bedoya wants, he can be a solid national team starter so long as he plays, or he can move to a bigger club and try to earn a starting spot. At 24 he has to start looking to what the move will mean for his future. Rangers is a great storied club, but there players aren’t exactly household names worldwide. I’m not sure what Bedoya wants but his next club should be a club that will help him achieve the career he wants.
I am not sure moving to a bigger club is that good a move. I am also leery of a move to Rangers. Bedoya might find a reasonable amount of playing time there, but it might well come against the weaker opponents in the SPL.
I think it is generally best for a player to be on the best team that will afford him an opportunity to play and to play against very good opponents. Lower level EPL teams could be good for that, so would lower level Eerdivsie or LaLiga teams and the latter are generally more skilled, less physical.
Changing teams is always a bit of a crap shoot since getting playing time is something that is always expected when a player signs, but reality often brings something different.
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I hate how people always say “He should go to an x-level team in country y.” Players don’t pick their destinations. Bedoya doesn’t call up the EPL front office and say “I’d like a low- to mid-level team where I have a chance for decent playing time so I can continue to develop and get exposure to top teams, got anything for me?” It’s all about where the interest is coming from. I mean, we’d all LOVE to see more of our boys in Spain, where their technique would really improve, or even in Portugal or France, but it’s not happening because (whether it’s justified or not) the interest isn’t there.
haha. agreed. Most of the broads in those ads are ridiculously hot. The guys too (what? I mean from what I’ve been told)
He’s probably not at 75%, but he’s played in a pretty good chunk of games for the US over the last two years.
It’s possible that he could be granted an exception.
What exactly does the Dempsey argument prove?
He has been with Fulham for several seasons now and it doesn’t really look like he’s going anywhere (though he could still prove me wrong). Is Fulham really a ‘bigger club’ than the reigning SPL champs (not to mention perennial UCL placeholders)? I tend to agree with the idea that just because a player is on a big club, it doesn’t mean it’s gonna help our NT.
Take Marcelo and Anderson. Brazilians, in case you didn’t know, both on bigass clubs (Madrid + ManU). Who plays in a similar spot as Marcelo? Andre Santos, who is a constant stater for Brazil. Where does he make his club money? Turkey. Did his move to Turkey ruin his chances at going somewhere bigger? Who knows, but last time I checked, as far as personal pride and worth as a player are concerned, starting on the national side is near the pinnacle.
If Bedoya were to seal a switch to, say, Newcastle or Blackburn Rovers, would Chelsea and ManU immediately start chomping at the bit for his services after one good season? Dempsey is Fulham’s leading scorer, and he’s still at Fulham. (Still not understanding the Dempsey argument btw)
And one last thing: You would be hard pressed to convince anyone that Bedoya has an automatic spot starting on that ‘mediocre’ Rangers team. Rangers is one of the most storied clubs in Great Britain and arguably Europe. Many players dream of playing there. He isn’t just gonna be handed the No. 10 or the starting wing spot.
I think it’s silly to berate his move because he won’t have to ‘fight for playing time.’ I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a squad player for angers until he proved himself. They have to juggle UCL (should they qualify), Scottish Cup, and SPL games on the schedule, and I bet Bedoya (at first) would just help to curb the fatigue that a schedule like that generates, until he proves himself as a lock.
He can only move to a low level EPL team if he is offered a deal.
Jozy’s signing now official.
I think it should be noted that the potential chemistry growth between Edu and Bedoya would more than make up for the fact that Rangers is not an EPL squad. I’ll take a 4-2-3-1 with Chandler, elderly Boca, Ream, Lichaj, Bradley, Edu, Bedoya, elderly Donovan, Holden, and insert striker here. Edu and Bedoya’s chemistry would be something unheralded for the USMNT.
A-Bed is a guy who could fit in a lot of places. The most important thing is finding a manager who really likes his talent and is willing to stick with him, a la Stu with Owen Coyle. If he can find a spot in a top league, great, but it can’t be a Gooch situation where he’s going to a name team on a free transfer that’s just looking for cheap guys to fill out the roster.
you da man!
I, personally, would prefer to go play for a mid-table Premier League team. Unfortunately, no mid-table Premier League teams have contacted my agent. I also don’t have an agent. I also am not good enough to play for a mid-table Premier League team.
Here is the point: if you have offers on the table or contact from teams, those are the teams that are options. Just because you think he would fit in with a Dutch club or French club or an EPL team that finishes in the bottom half of the table (Wait, based on last year? What will it be this year?), doesn’t mean that that is a feasible alternative to Rangers.
You please learn the definition of trolling:
“a troll is someone who posts inflammatory[citation needed], extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response” – Wikipedia
Lots of matches today…viewing guide???
I’d love to see him in a more technical league like a lower-table Spanish team or Portugal before Scotland.
I don’t think Bedoya would fare well with the physicality in the SPL. He is a lightweight as they say in the UK He’s not good enough for the EPL — there are a lot of English players just as good that the clubs would take before a player they’d have to secure a work permit for. Does he have a Swedish passport? If so, that would help.
He should try Spanish 2nd division, Serie B, Bundesliga 2. Don’t think his play is at a higher level than those leagues. And he wouldn’t play much at Rangers who has many players better.
Krystal Lynn Hedrick