(Soccer) US's Oguchi (Gooch) Onyewu is heading to French Team Marseille

[SirFozzie]

After having been linked to various teams including Chelsea and Real Madrid, Gooch is heading to Marseille (which is one of the G-14 clubs, so it's not far from Chelsea or Real Madrid Levels

SAN FRANCISCO (SI.com) -- U.S. central defender Oguchi Onyewu is transferring to French club Olympique Marseille, according to a report in SoccerTimes.com.

The 24-year-old, who has played for Belgian club Standard de Liège since 2004, had been linked with some of the top teams in Europe, including Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan and Lyon. Marseille will reportedly pay Standard a $4 million transfer fee.

Earlier this month, Standard rejected a reported $2 million transfer fee from Premiership club Fulham, which would have reunited Onyewu with fellow Team USA members Brian McBride, Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey, all of whom play for Fulham.

Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 210 pounds, "Gooch" has developed a reputation as a big, bruising defender and was a key member of the United States' back line at the World Cup in Germany last summer. Following the tournament, the Washington, D.C.-area native turned down an offer to move to English club Middlesbrough.

Onyewu was recently voted Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Soccer Federation. He made his first appearance for the U.S. national team in '04.

Onyewu's arrival as a Team USA stalwart, however, was during a World Cup qualifying victory vs. Mexico in September '05 in Columbus, Ohio. Onyewu dominated Mexico's star striker, Jared Borgetti, helping the U.S. win that game 2-0 and clinch a spot in Germany '06 as a result.

Marseille is one of the biggest and best-supported teams in France, and is the only French club to have won the European Champions League, in 1993. L'OM also has eight Ligue 1 titles and a record 10 French Cup titles to its credit, as well as a Champions League runner-up spot in '91 and two UEFA Cup runner-up spots.

The club has hit a slump in recent years, however, failing to finish higher than third place in the French league since the '02-03 season. Marseille is currently in second place behind leader Lyon, and is nearing a purchase by Canadian businessman Jack Kachkar.

[Easy Mac]

Didn't Gooch start out in France? Or am I making that up. Someone look up his history in FM

edit, Metz, good.

[RPI-Fan]

I think it's a perfect move for him, assuming they have a need in central defense? Can any of the Frenchies comment on what OM's CD situation is like?

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

I think it's a perfect move for him, assuming they have a need in central defense? Can any of the Frenchies comment on what OM's CD situation is like?

Probably the same situation as every other team: praying they can finish #2 in the league while Lyon run away with it.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

Probably the same situation as every other team: praying they can finish #2 in the league while Lyon run away with it.

"". Lyon is just amazing.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

Probably the same situation as every other team: praying they can finish #2 in the league while Lyon run away with it.

I think RPI-Fan ment who Marseille's current central defenders are.
I can't help you there though, I'm no expert on player names in the Ligue 1.

[RPI-Fan]

Apparantly OM fans think that their defenders are quite good (and they are saying Onyewu doesn't have the necessary 'Euro pedigree' that the current guys do... )

With that said, OM is losing 2-0 today, so we will see what happens.

[cthomer5000]

I'm a bit disappointed the Fulham deal didn't happen, it would have practically been the offical club of the US National team.

[RPI-Fan]

Allegedly, Marseille is now off and he may go to Newcastle.

That'd be fine with me. I'm all for having more opportunities to have games of interest to me on FSC.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Apparantly OM fans think that their defenders are quite good (and they are saying Onyewu doesn't have the necessary 'Euro pedigree' that the current guys do... )

With that said, OM is losing 2-0 today, so we will see what happens.

DO you have some kind of built in callsign whenever someone suggests an American player isn't the world's best?

[GoldenEagle]

I was hoping Chelsea would get him. It would be a cool to see an American playing there. Newcastle would probably be a better fit though. I wonder what happened with the OM deal?

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Allegedly, Marseille is now off and he may go to Newcastle.

That'd be fine with me. I'm all for having more opportunities to have games of interest to me on FSC.

WOOT! Here's hoping. The Mags definately need some defensive help and are 12th in the table at the moment, so he can definately help 'em out into a respectable place (and a UEFA Cup berth).

[Critch]

BBC website says he's undergoing a medical at Newcastle today with a view to a loan deal til the end of the season.

Should be a good move for him, should be a regular first team place and a chance to show what he can do.

Last weekend one of the English commentators said something like "The MLS might have got Beckham, but we've got ...list of all the US players in the EPL... so we got the best of the deal". Changed days from when the US presences in the EPL was a handful of goalkeepers.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

I'm a bit disappointed the Fulham deal didn't happen, it would have practically been the offical club of the US National team.

Already being a Fulham fan, I can say the disappointment goes for me too.

[Critch]

Newcastle United have decided not to make a permanent move for Onyewu, so he's on his way back to Belgium at the end of the loan deal. Appeared in 12 games for Newcastle, 4 of them as a sub after losing his first team place.

Didn't look very good, no better than Titus Bramble, but difficult to judge a player when he's stuck into the shambles that's Newcastle's defence.

[Desnudo]

He's young for a defender. I'd love to see him end up somewhere with a mentor.

[Big Fo]

I never caught much of Gooch in action for Newcastle, hopefully he'll end up with a club that has some sort of clue if Standard Liege sells him this summer. He has a lot of talent.

I'm still bitter over that phantom penalty call vs. Ghana

[Crapshoot]

Wait - I thought he was a superstar?

Apparently, he turned down moves to Madrid because he wasn't going to start (this is in Jan). I think he's got talent, but Critch is right - at Newcastle, everyone looks bloody awful.

[GoldenEagle]

He really hurt his stock with his stint at Newcastle. I think you will see him wind up in the French league. It is the whole short sleeve jersey and glove thing. I would not recommend that for any young aspiring footballer.

[moriarty]

He was never good enough for Madrid or Chelsea, and it showed at Newcastle. If he gets a chance to start at Marseille, it should still help him improve for the US team.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Critch

Newcastle United have decided not to make a permanent move for Onyewu, so he's on his way back to Belgium at the end of the loan deal. Appeared in 12 games for Newcastle, 4 of them as a sub after losing his first team place.

Didn't look very good, no better than Titus Bramble, but difficult to judge a player when he's stuck into the shambles that's Newcastle's defence.

No way I can criticize the (non) move by Newcastle. He looks shakey as all hell in the games I saw him in. Maybe he didn't get enough time to settle in, but I can't imagine they saw anything that made them think "we gotta have this guy!"

On the other hand, Chelsea was interested then, so you have to think maybe some other EPL sides will approach Standard Liege about him. Or Marseille could come calling again (would be cool since they're currentyl in Champions League position).

[Vinatieri for Prez]

I'm in agreement. In all honesty, he just did not look that good at all at Newcastle this season.

[GoldenEagle]

Beasley was also dropped by Manchester City. I am assuming he will return to PSV, although a return to the EPL is more likely for Beasley than Gooch. One of the lower-tier clubs could use a speedy midfielder who had a decent showing in his last few stints. I would imagine PSV would let him go for pretty cheap as well.

[cthomer5000]

Yeah, at least with Beasley he looked his best in his final few games this year.

[Critch]

I'd guess Beasley and Onyewu were both not helped by the fact that both their teams fired their managers at the end of the season. Sounds like Allardyce at Newcastle isn't going to be able to flash around the checkbook, so the 3mil it would have taken to sign Onyewu full time will probably be needed elsewhere.

On a good note for US players, Carlos Bocanegra scored more league goals than Andriy Shevchenko this season

[PilotMan]

Maybe they both could go to Fulham like the rest of the US team?

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

Beasley was also dropped by Manchester City. I am assuming he will return to PSV, although a return to the EPL is more likely for Beasley than Gooch. One of the lower-tier clubs could use a speedy midfielder who had a decent showing in his last few stints. I would imagine PSV would let him go for pretty cheap as well.

I think there's a good chance Beasley will end up back an Man City before it's all through. He was on a loan deal, and w/out a new manager it'd be tough for Man City to make a decision to buy a player at this point (what if he doesn't fit in with the new manager's tactics?).

Once a new manager is in place, I think he will take a good look at Beasley and how he played this year (the biggest question being his frequent injuries IMO) and how he fit in with the wild club antics this year. Man City don't have very many left side options, so they're going to have to spend on someone and I think Beasley can be had easily. He's frail for the premiership, but in his short stint he was only like two goals away from being their top scorer and he hit the crossbar on several occasions which could have added to his tally.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by moriarty

He's frail for the premiership, but in his short stint he was only like two goals away from being their top scorer and he hit the crossbar on several occasions which could have added to his tally.

Beasley's 3 league goals in 18 games made him their joint third top scorer and only 3 goals behind their top scorer

Yeah, he seems to have been generally favorably received. Wouldn't be surprised to see him back somewhere when the dust has all settled.

What about Bobby Convey? Still recovering from injury?

[Leonidas]

Seems to me the teams rumored to have been interested are a bit overhyped. Real, AC Milan, Lyon? Seriously? The guy's a fabulous athlete but has no clue how to properly position himself. Fulham would have been a good fit, and Chelsea only because they are so desperate for anything they can get in the center right now. In fact I would love to see him go to Chelsea because I think Terry and Mourinho could turn him into a real stud. But no way he could step in at a club like AC right now and make a difference. He needs to learn to play position in a team defense before being a regular with a top club like those mentioned.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Convey's supposed to be ready to play this summer. I think he's expected to skip the tournaments and focus on getting back into the swing of things in training camp for Reading. He's going to have his work cut out beating Hunt, who played very well covering for Convey.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Standard claims that they turned down a bid from Real Madrid last fall because they wouldn't have had time to buy a replacement for Onyewu.

All of the rest is just rumors, possibly drummed up by his agent.

I don't know that I'd like a pairing of Onyewu and Terry, they seem like similar players to me whereas Onyewu would probably benefit from a quicker players. Then again, he did have one of his best NT performances paired with Gregg Berhalter, who nobody will confuse with Fabio Cannavaro.

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by Mr. Wednesday

Convey's supposed to be ready to play this summer. I think he's expected to skip the tournaments and focus on getting back into the swing of things in training camp for Reading. He's going to have his work cut out beating Hunt, who played very well covering for Convey.

The guys from World Soccer Daily seem to think that Convey will be on his way out this summer, with Hunt being the main reason. I am not sure if that will happen, but Convey will definitely have to fight for his squad place. In a sort of related topic, Marcus Hanemann will not partake in either one of the summer tournaments and is going to concentrate on rehabbing his hand.

[Mr. Wednesday]

I can't imagine Reading shipping Convey out this summer unless they're hurting for money. A big part of their success is that they didn't have the highest standard of player, but they had excellent squad depth and Coppell could afford to go with the hot hand, and had good options when players like Kitson, Convey, and Sonko went down injured.