AMSTERDAM – Sochaux forward Charlie Davies has been deemed fit for selection consideration by manager Francis Gillot as the US hit man weighs winter loan options in France.
Davies, 24, has not dressed for the club since featuring in a home win over Le Mans last October, just prior to the fatal car accident in which he suffered several serious injuries.
He has been playing regularly for the reserve side since August and scored in a mixed first- and second-team friendly against Swiss outfit Neuchâtel Xamax.
"He's one of the guys, so of course he's available now," Sochaux press officer Stijn Slaats told MLSsoccer.com on Friday morning. "He's made tremendous progress, but it is of course up to the coach."
Even as Davies awaits Saturday afternoon's 18-man squad announcement for their important clash with visiting Bordeaux on Sunday, the New Hampshire native's agent is busy sorting winter loan offers.
"We're evaluating in terms of what's the best next step for Charlie," Lyle Yorks told MLSsoccer.com. "Does he go out on loan trying to get that 90 minutes every week or does he stay at Sochaux and integrate slowly with 10, 20, 30 minutes a game? It really comes down to getting Charlie as many minutes as possible right now.
"We're looking inside of both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, but also the coach over there [at Sochaux] has been very happy with him. He's doing really well."
Currently blocking Davies' path to the first team is a pair of in-form young strikers, Ideye Brown and Modibo Maiga. The two have combined for 13 league goals on the season, ranking them as the third-highest scoring forward tandem in Ligue 1.
Sochaux, who finished in 16th place last term, stand 10th in a tightly packed table through 17 games.
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