AMSTERDAM – Recovering Stoke City midfielder Maurice Edu has loan options in France and Turkey, MLSsoccer.com has learned.
The US international is most eager to fight for his place at the Britannia, but must first complete his comeback from a sports hernia injury. Edu will soon be back on the training field to make his pitch to new Stoke boss Mark Hughes, who expressed interest in the American while manager at Queens Park Rangers last year.
"Mo is almost back to 100 percent," Edu's rep, Lyle Yorks, told MLSsoccer.com. "Once he's fully recovered, Stoke will decide whether he stays there this season or goes out on loan."
Edu spent the back half of last season on loan to Turkish side Bursaspor, becoming a fast fan favorite. However, MLSsoccer.com has learned that the Green Crocodiles are not the Süper Lig club currently aiming to snare the 27-year-old on loan.
Edu previously rejected an offer to play for Trabzonspor, one of a handful of Turkish teams to have shown interest in his services before he signed with Stoke last summer. He has also had several French admirers in recent years, including Bordeaux, Evian, Nancy, Sochaux and Valenciennes.
While it remains to be seen if Edu will be available for selection in time, Stoke will kick off the new Premier League season by invading Liverpool a week from Saturday.
Edu featured for the US national team in each of the first three World Cup qualifiers this year – including a start and a 90-minute shift in the team's historic scoreless draw on the road against Mexico on March 26 – but he withdrew from the team's May camp ahead of the summer qualifiers and has not appeared since while recovering from his sports hernia surgery.
