More happy birthdays!

Due to my internet being out, I was unable to post a bonus double happy birthday to co-conspirator Sean O'Conor and NSC pal Michael Bradley on time. Each celebrated another year on our beautiful rock yesterday, and of course, now share July 31st birthdays with NSC.

The Heerenveen midfielder, currently busy preparing for the Olympics with his U.S. teammates, turned the magic 21. I won't tell you how old Sean is, but I can assure you he is also of legal U.S. drinking age.



Mike's belated birthday present could well come after he returns from China in the form of a multi-million dollar transfer... sadly, Sean will not have quite so much spent on him this year.

Bradley's transfer saga has been very difficult to follow, even for people with good sources whispering. There has been so much unconfirmed information in papers (from no less than six countries, mind you) on teams interested, the asking price, bid amounts, etc. that much of it conflicts. We all simply have no solid clue what to think.

People often ask me where he's going and how much the transfer will be, but despite knowing practically every Heerenveen employee and the sport director of three reported suitors, I really don't have a good answer. Both Bradley and his agent are always tight-lipped on these matters, so I really don't ask them about it anymore.

For those keeping score, Mickey is or was at some time in the last 8-9 months being courted by (deep breath) Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Hamburg in Germany... Blackburn, Everton and Middlesbrough in England... Monaco in France and Celtic in Scotland. And that's just the teams we're certain of; we've also heard his name linked to the likes of Ajax and Newcastle.

The asking price has been reported as anywhere from $6.75 million to upwards of $15 million. The reported bids have ranged from $6.75 million (Leverkusen) up to about $13 million (Monaco). There has also been some talk of Heerenveen holding on to their reigning top Eredivisie scorer.

The truth of the matter is that this is not a simple case of X amount of teams divided by Y player with Z skills and one year left on his contract = this team for that figure. There are a myriad of factors at play, including the eventual shake out for a number of other transfers involving clubs in the Bradley race.

There is also his time spent as a U.S. Olympian, which surely puts a pause on the proceedings. With that comes the idea that his stock could rise or fall depending on his showing at the Games, but that probably won't be a terribly big factor unless he goes nuts and the we win Gold with him as MVP.

The more prevalent effect from his China sojourn is that some suitors will turn focus to other targets in the meantime, such as Everton has done with Sporting Lisbon's João Moutinho and Monaco with Alejandro Alonso of Bordeaux.

So what do I think will happen in the end? Well... if you absolutely insist on a guess-timate, I'll predict that Bradley will eventually join Everton for approximately what Villarreal paid for Jozy Altidore ($10 million and change), if perhaps not a shade more. Moutinho just flat costs too much and the Toffees have several spots to fill if they intend on challenging the Prem big four.

Really though, I just hope Mike is happy with the result of all this hullabaloo. I like him as a player and as a person. He's a tough, confident kid with lots of heart and passion for the game. Of course, he is the son of U.S. coach Bob Bradley, so you know he's also a student of the game. He even has the guts and acumen to conduct interviews in Dutch. Plus, he's probably even more competitive than dear ol' dad (a ka the Artist formerly known as Icy Grimace).

Oh yeah, almost forgot... I predict Sean will sign with Accrington Stanley.

- Greg Seltzer

(Bradley photo courtesy of FeanFans.nl)

Enjoy a Dutch-engineered Michael Bradley video tribute.