In spite of almost constant criticism of his performance on the international level, Eddie Johnson seems to be attracting lots of interest from clubs in Europe. This has been an almost annual battle that Kansas City has faced since Johnson was traded from FC Dallas in 2005. That year a $6 million offer from Benfica was rejected and last season an offer from Real Sociedad was also rejected. Now it is recently promoted Derby County of the EPL who have offerred roughly $6 million for Johnson.
Kansas City and Major League Soccer cannot continue to stand in Johnson’s way. A sale to any European club would probably help Johnson develop the aggressiveness that is lacking in his game at the international level. In addition, now that David Beckham has arrived in the US, players such as Johnson, and Freddy Adu which had previously been guarded at all costs by MLS for marketing purposes may have less value now to MLS. Let’s hope so for the sake of the US National Team.
