Today we learned that Michael Bradley will be on the move. But not to all the rumored locales. First there was the Sunderland connection, but that fell through with the sale of Darren Bent. Then popped up the Palermo and Galatasaray, then yesterday it was reported that Bradley had in fact been sold, heavily rumored to the Turkish giants, but today, the fog has settled. Bradley has been sent on loan, with an option to buy, to Aston Villa FC. Bradley joins Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jonathan Spector (West Ham), and Jermaine Jones(Blackburn) as American central midfielders currently plying their trade in the English Premier League, add Maurice Edu (Rangers) if you want to talk about Yank center midfielders in the United Kingdom. This move came about after Bradley turned in a transfer request to the Borussia Monchengladbach front office. Trivia time: when was the last time an American turned in a transfer request?? This is the first that I can ever recall. Bradley jumps off the sinking ship that is Monchengladbach, who currently are buttressing the Bundesliga, have been all but relegated at this point, with only 13 points to show from 19 matches so far this season.
Bradley joins many fellow yanks at Aston Villa, with GK Brad Freidel, GK Brad Guzan (currently on loan at Hull City), and DF Eric Lichaj all currently on the books at the Birmingham club. Villa is also owned by American Randy Lerner. So what kind of competition will Bradley face for playing time? Villa currently employ Nigel Reo-Coker, Stephen Ireland, Fabian Delph, and Stiliyan Petrov. Much tougher than the current crop of CMs at 'gladbach. But competition is a good thing, especially for a young player like Bradley. If he can break into the Villa first choice squad, he could set himself up for a full transfer to Villa, or to a bigger Bundesliga or EPL side.
I like the move, assuming he gets some decent playing time.
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