AMSTERDAM — With US internationals such as Freddy Adu, Kenny Cooper and Benny Feilhaber coming back to the States from Europe this season, the question begs: What other American Exports might land in MLS next?
Of course, there are many variables to consider before we'd even get to the coulds and shoulds of it. To name a few, we'd first need to consider remaining length of contract, current club status and a player's desire to come home at this time.
None of our picks below are perfect storm candidates yet, but they seem the five most likely to reappear back home sometime in the foreseeable future
5. Michael Parkhurst
With a contract running out in December, the FC Nordsjælland defender will probably have some MLS interest if not locked down by winter.
Still, the Wild Tigers badly want to retain him and they already face competition from a top Austrian side. But hey, you never know what will happen in four months' time.
4. Jonathan Bornstein
At the beginning of the summer, the Tigres UANL defensive handyman's agent told MLSsoccer.com that his client was still intent on carving out a place in Mexico.
Five games into the new Apertura season, however, and Bornstein has yet to appear. To boot, most of his seven appearances during the Clausura were at defensive midfield. It's not exactly ideal for a guy who wants the US left back job, to say the least.
3. Kamani Hill
He's versatile, quick, cheap, eager to play in MLS for the first time and comes with a free transfer. All we need now is for Hill to find a place that needs some fresh, lively legs on the right. Seems easy, right? Aha! There's always a catch.
That little matter of his being a returning US international complicates things. Despite just two caps back in 2007, Hill would be required to enter the league through the allocation process, which adds the type of residual cost most teams aren't willing to pay for a guy that's had just five first-team games since those USMNT outings.
2. Marcus Hahnemann
If there were no time element to the ranking, the burly netminder might top this chart. Hahnemann will almost certainly be back in MLS at some point. We just aren't sure when. We do know he wants to play in the Northwest, most particularly Seattle.
Kasey Keller is signed with the Sounders through season's end. Seems tidy enough ... but that's winter. For now, Hahnemann is doing a few TV gigs like Sky's Soccer AM while reportedly weighing interest from promoted EPL sides Norwich and Swansea.
1. Lee Nguyen
The erstwhile Binh Duong attacker, who is still rehabbing the broken bones around his ankle, has some interest in MLS and would like to play professionally at home for the first time.
However, he also has a suitor in Vietnam, where he's like a pop star and was the highest-paid athlete in the country last year. Hanging with Nguyen there would be like an episode of Entourage — and you're E. It's something to consider.
