Saturday, August 05, 2006
Untangling the Onyewu Rumors
Rumors swirled this week that US Defender and potential WC 2010 captain Oguchi Onyewu was headed for Fulham in the English Premier League or West Bromwich Albion in the second-tier English Championship League. Yesterday, however, Soccernet.com ran a story with quotes from Onyewu indicating that he had turned down an offer from Middlesbrough (the club that had supposedly soured on him after the World Cup) and was staying at Standard Liege in Belgium at least until the winter break.
Yanks Abroad reports that Onyewu is currently suffering a sprained ankle, which kept him out of last week's Jupiter League opener and will cause him to miss today's clash against Charleroi.
But for those of us hoping that Onyewu makes the jump to a top flight league, YA reassures us that Onyewu nixed the offer from Middlesbrough before the World Cup. Whether Onyewu is serious or not about staying in Belgium through the fall is unclear, but according to YA, Standard will likely hold on to him through their Champions League qualifying campaign (which begins Wednesday with Onyewu doubtful).
At this point, it's probably OK to assume that Fulham and WBA are still in for Onyewu and the chances of a move are good. Other teams reportedly in the mix are Reading, Charlton, Aston Villa, and Sporting Lisbon.
Yanks Abroad reports that Onyewu is currently suffering a sprained ankle, which kept him out of last week's Jupiter League opener and will cause him to miss today's clash against Charleroi.
But for those of us hoping that Onyewu makes the jump to a top flight league, YA reassures us that Onyewu nixed the offer from Middlesbrough before the World Cup. Whether Onyewu is serious or not about staying in Belgium through the fall is unclear, but according to YA, Standard will likely hold on to him through their Champions League qualifying campaign (which begins Wednesday with Onyewu doubtful).
At this point, it's probably OK to assume that Fulham and WBA are still in for Onyewu and the chances of a move are good. Other teams reportedly in the mix are Reading, Charlton, Aston Villa, and Sporting Lisbon.
