It's been brought to my attention that various UK rags (I don't know why anyone ever believes them) have Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all bowing up with drawn knives over FC Dallas ace Brek Shea. His agent just told me, chuckling, that this was all news to him.So who ya gonna call? "Scoop" busters!
And yes, quite obviously, my report on that general topic is taking longer than I expected. It'll still be worth the wait.
- Greg Seltzer
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17 comments:
Looking forward to this piece and also wondering how long you expect him to stay in MLS for
Greg you are the soccer equivalent of Snopes. What says Snopes about the rumor of the top rated US high school prospect going to Man City? I saw a link to the report on SI.com...
Maybe you should chevk with all the agents who are claiming they are representing him or claim they have one or more of those clubs interested in him as soon as he signs with one of them. You know how it goes.
@ Mike: He could go in January, but I would not consider it a fait accompli at this time. You never know, it could have to wait until next summer.
@ Matt: From what I understand, it's true... but he's not American. He's Mexican.
@ SPA2TACU5: You're too cynical, man! That doesn't even make sense... agents who lie do so to claim interest, not to shoot it down.
If I pass on what a source says, that means I trust them enough to put my name on it. Not all agents are created equal.
Trust me, I get told plenty you never hear about because it's nonsense. So far, I haven't passed you any nonsense yet (knock on wood).
Greg,
Any idea who the german club was who actually came in with a real bid at the end of the transfer window?
also, His agent told goal.com a couple of weeks ago that several english clubs were indeed looking at him.
But maybe it's the whole they're fighting over him thing he was chuckling at.
But can he possibly secure work permit for England? Surely for another league, but that's just a bridge too far.
Great point Tom
+1 to Tom on the work permit. I would think non-starter. If he keeps this pace with the national team, It wouldn't be a problem by the end of 2012 (or potentially even mid 2012 as long as he's capped from here until then.)
It will be interesting to see if Shea and his people are thinking along EPL lines (I think they should be.)
You guys do remember that those not meeting the caps % requirement for an automatic work permit can get one in the appeal hearing, right? :)
It would not be the first time an American got one this way.
Greg,
Certainly-and he's not a bad candidate, but also not that great: no official comp matches since 2008. Didn't play in very recent official trny.
The matches played metric is not a part of the appeal hearing. His argument would be based on the "exceptional talent" waiver. It's hard to predict whether the Home Office would buy it, but I don't see why he wouldn't have a decent chance of winning approval on that basis.
I thought Brek had a Norwegian passport. He has a Norwegian grandmother. Isn't that part of the reason Bolton offered a contract a few years ago?
Greg, my misunderstanding, then. I had though that the utilization would still be an item of consideration; thanks.
I remember Benny getting his work permit on appeal a few years ago at derby. Bob went and spoke at the appeal if I remember correctly, surely an endorsement from Jurgen would go a long way in securing a WP. Obviously the 2 cases are different, Benny learned his trade at Hamburg rather than in the MLS, but I would imagine if Benny qualifies as an exceptional talent than Brek probably would too.
@ Greg
Maybe I was being too vague.
I meant: it might be his own agent not knowing about this interest,
but another agent who thinks Shea is an attractive player and has connections with people at certain EPL teams and has gotten those people interested in Shea,
and then wants either a piece of the action and/or wants to represent Shea himself in case of a transfer.
If I'm not mistaken, the "exceptional talent" defense is also how Brad Guzan got his work permit.
Tangentially: adios, Giant Chuck. It was "fun".
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