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Americans Abroad

Leon unveil Donovan tonight, Carter-Vickers recalled, & more

While there was little news to report on the field for Americans abroad, there are some interesting off-field developments. Carter-Vickers is no longer at Sheffield United and Club Leon is very, very excited to have Landon Donovan. Meanwhile, MLS is lawyering up
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
January 15, 2018
6:20 AM

It was a slow weekend abroad for Americans abroad and that has lead us to a slow Monday news day. But now there are questions about Cameron Carter-Vickers and excitement over Donovan’s arrival at Club Leon.


Dull Americans Abroad weekend


How lackluster of a weekend was it for Americans Abroad? Very

Christian Pulisic and John Brooks were injured. Weston McKennie and Fabian Johnson did not play did not play. Bobby Wood played but he couldn't reverse another poor Hamburg performance in a 1-0 loss to Augsburg. 

In England, things were not much better. Lynden Gooch started for Sunderland – which was routed 4-0 by Cardiff. Antonee Robinson was also part of 2-0 loss for Bolton. Eric Lichaj had a brilliant week last week but lost at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.

Danny Williams came off the bench for Huddersfield in a 4-1 loss at home to West Ham. DeAndre Yedlin and Newcastle eked out a point in a 1-1 draw at home against lowly Swansea.

Despite playing with the club’s first teams recently, Levante’s Shaq Moore and Benfica’s Keaton Parks both featured for reserve teams over the weekend.

There were essentially two bright spots for Americans in Europe. Tim Ream went the distance for Fulham in a 1-0 road win over Middlesbrough. It was his 100th appearance for the London-based club.



Eintracht Frankfurt played to a 1-1 draw at home against Freiburg but Timothy Chandler had the assist for Eintracht to open the game (Caleb Stanko was an unused substitute for Freiburg.

In Mexico, Michael Orozco and Alejandro Guido both played for Tijuana in a 1-0 win over Necaxa while Joe Corona continued to earn playing time for Club America in a 2-2 draw against a Pachuca team that did not feature Omar Gonzalez.

Carter-Vickers recalled by Tottenham


After a strong start to his loan at Sheffield United, Cameron Carter-Vickers struggled the past six weeks. The past two weeks there were rumors that Tottenham was going to recall him from his loan. After not making the bench on Friday for Sheffield United, the speculation grew louder.

On Monday, Tottenham made it official by formally recalling Carter-Vickers, 20, from the loan. While Carter-Vickers is highly unlikely to play for Spurs this season, Tottenham must have been concerned about his drop and form and his likelihood to get minutes the second half of the season at Sheffield. If the English-American central defender needed to get his confidence back, perhaps Tottenham felt they could do it better than Sheffield. Or, perhaps, Tottenham will try another loan.

Donovan to be presented tonight


Club Leon has gone all-in on its excitement having signed former United States national team great Landon Donovan. It’s been really fun.

In Saturday’s home game, Santos played a “Golden Ticket” game with five Donovan heads spread around the stadium. The winner would receive a prize.



We still don’t know when Donovan’s first game will be but he will be unveiled tonight at the stadium and entrance is free. On Sunday, Herculez Gomez made a great comment when a picture leaked that Donovan will wear number 20 noting that it could be in reference do Dos a Cero.


The Cyle Larin debacle


Over the weekend, Turkish club Besiktas tweeted a picture of Orlando City and Canadian national team forward Cyle Larin wearing its jersey and saying he was undergoing a physical. Orlando City responded that no deal had been agreed to and that it was taking further action.

On Sunday Alicia Rose DelGallo reported that Orlando has brought in a high-profile attorney in the matter.



In the past, there have been awkward to embarrassing moments where MLS or American players have tried to move to Turkish clubs. Heath Pearce was once announced at a press conference for Bursaspor in Turkey and his deal fell through the next day. Fabian Castillo went to Trabzonspor at first without FC Dallas’ approval.

Turkish teams have not been the best to deal with in the past but if MLS was more willing to sell players, incidents like these would be less likely to happen.

How weird is it going to be when Larin shows up for preseason in a few weeks? That’s going to be an uneasy situation. But Orlando is in a bad spot. If it sells Larin now, it will encourage players who are under contract to leave without permission if they want to sell. If Larin returns to Orlando, the club will probably have a disgruntled player.

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