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MLS Ticker: Wilshere reportedly interested in move, Williams suspended, and more

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Jack Wilshere’s time at West Ham United ended abruptly, but the former England international isn’t leaving out a possible new opportunity in MLS.

Wilshere is currently without a club after being released from his contract with the London club earlier this month. The 28-year-old veteran could sign for any team as a free agent should he find a move, but is reportedly considering a stop in MLS one day.

“I don’t think I’m too young for the MLS,” Wilshere said in an interview with Sky Sports. “It’s on Sky Sports. I think there’s been a big improvement in that league. If the right opportunity came up I’d be open to it.”

“I want to play for a club where I feel like I’m an important part of it,” he says. “I just want to play games – I want to get back to playing 25-30 games a season, when you can really get your confidence back and a smile on your face.”

Wilshere joined the Hammers in 2018, but only made 16 appearances for the club over the past two seasons. He’s won 34 caps for the Three Lions during his career and also excelled with Arsenal in his 10 years as a first team player there.

There are no MLS clubs currently linked with Wilshere’s services, but the midfielder could make a move to North America in the offseason should the right offer come knocking.

Crew defender Williams suspended four matches for league violation

Josh Williams will not play a part in the Columbus Crew’s next two league matches.

MLS announced the suspension of Williams on Wednesday, which will see him miss Wednesday’s clash at D.C. United and this weekend’s home showdown with East leaders Philadelphia Union. Williams was given a four-match suspension overall for violating league rules and already served two of those matches already.

The 32-year-old defender has registered one assist in 11 appearances this season. Overall, Williams has made 189 combined league appearances in MLS which included an earlier spell with Columbus and also stints with NYCFC and Toronto FC.

Caleb Porter’s side is mathematically still in the running for top spot in the Eastern Conference, but need plenty to go their way.

Kamara OUT for Loons after “gentleman’s agreement” with Rapids

Kei Kamara will not be facing his former club on Wednesday due to a “gentleman agreement” between Minnesota United and the Colorado Rapids.

Kamara was acquired by Minnesota in a trade with Colorado earlier this season, but will not be available as the Loons aim for back-to-back league wins. The Sierra Leone international’s absence leaves Aaron Schoenfeld as the likely candidate to start at striker, with Luis Amarilla out through injury.

“Kei’s not available for tomorrow because that was an agreement we made with Colorado when we took him that he wouldn’t play in the league game,” Minnesota head coach Adrian Heath said during Tuesday’s pre-match press conference. “But if we were to play them in the playoffs, he would be eligible.”

An MLS veteran, Kamara joined the Rapids ahead of the 2019 MLS season and was there until the trade to Minnesota in September. He scored 17 league goals for the Rapids in 38 games and was the team’s top scorer that season. Since joining Minnesota, Kamara has already played in six games and scored his first goal earlier this month in a 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati.

One Union player tests positive for COVID-19

The Philadelphia Union has become the latest team hit by COVID-19.

The Eastern Conference club announced Wednesday that a first team player did test positive for the virus. All other players and members of the club have returned consecutive negative test results and do not have symptoms ahead of tonight’s showdown with the Chicago Fire.

The unnamed player will remain in isolation until medically cleared and will be monitored by the club’s medical staff and tested daily. Kacper Przybylko was the only other Union player to test positive for COVID-19, which the Polish striker announced earlier this season.

Tonight’s game will go on as scheduled at Subaru Park.

 

 

 

Comments

  1. I haven’t exactly followed Wilshere’s career, but I suspect he could help some MLS club and could be a positive for another 2 or 3 seasons.

    Reply
    • meh. michael owen was never the same after his knee injury age 27. but that was his roughly 10th year as a professional. landon started out age 17 and was on sabbatical at 30 as fit as he was. well, wilshere has been playing pro since he was 16 ie 2008. so a dozen years later at 2020 he’s out of a club. he was out of england NT by 2016. my theory is a lot of these early bloomers also run their course earlier. and this isn’t just an off year, he’s disappeared since about 2018, no league goals. for comparison, BWP was scoring goals every third game on loan before he came here. at minimum, we can act like he’s “28,” literally true, but his NT and club situations sound like an over-30 who crested the hill. i’d have more faith if he’d been loaned out and done something down the pecking order there. but then he probably wouldn’t be making the retirement home type move if he was. i wouldn’t be surprised if he’s signed on reputation but i also wouldn’t be surprised if a broken down “8” who doesn’t have a league goal in years is a bust.

      Reply
      • He was with several top clubs when he was younger, but seemed to be injured a lot. Obviously he isn’t what he used to be, but MLS is not the EPL either. We have seen a number of fringe players from top 5 European leagues do well in MLS.We have also seen Championship level players be starters in MLS. While MLS has improved, a fringe player from the EPL could still make a difference for an MLS team with the need for a midfielder. We won’t know for sure, of course, until we see him play.

      • the ones who perform usually show up on a high note. i am skeptical of ones who show up with their engines already sputtering. this is no longer a retirement league with college kids. 3/4 of every team XI is serious internationals like you. i think the euro snobs underrate the quality of the league and the level one needs to show up playing. i have seen people come here from europe who either had gone over the hill or were overrated, and be completely out of their depth. conversely, if you are going to europe offensively you better be putting up numbers here because it only gets harder there.

      • different way of putting it is the drop off from EPL to here has narrowed such that a player struggling there cannot be assumed to be prepared to hack it here either. falling off slightly, fine. but he has been unproductive for years.

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