Another American signing nears completion, he's said to be the new Fernando Torres!! - http://www.bigdsoccer.com/2013/1/18/3891720/brek-shea-stoke-city-transfer Looks good on this video too - [video=youtube;cEvsr8Hbu5I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEvsr8Hbu5I[/video] Report: Brek Shea Nearing Move to Stoke City A potential bombshell was dropped on Twitter this afternoon as ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman reported that Brek Shea is nearing a transfer to English Premier League side Stoke City. The reported transfer fee is in the range of $3.5 million. Something extremely important to note about this move is that it's pending a physical and given Shea's recent surgery, that could be an issue. If the deal does go through, initial reaction would be that with Jackson and Fabian Castillo showing well in the second half of the year, Brek Shea was deemed surplus to requirements and the money was too good to turn down with potential signings already in Fernando Clavijo's crosshairs. A move to the Premier League would be huge for Shea as he looks to get back in the national team picture, but the timing would seem weird as Shea recovers from off-season surgery in a time where he hasn't played in nearly 6 months. I'm sure there will be much more to come out of this one so stay tuned
Brek Shea has some talent. You can see from the YouTube clip what he brings to the table. He's tall, fast, and unafraid to take on defenders. That said, he has always been somewhat disappointing. He was sort of a confidence player-- when he was on, he was on and showed all those flashes of brilliance you see in that clip. When he is off, I think he lacks effort and when he gets the ball he tries taking on five guys at once, then loses possession, then pouts. Not the mentally strongest or smartest player on the pitch. Important to note however, that he was young at the time so not terribly unexpected. All of that started to change however, right before he got hurt. He looked like stronger, more mature and was starting to put together some fine performances. I was dismayed when Klinsmann put him in the National team, but he was definitely winning me over. Really seemed to be coming into his own. Still a little inconsistent, but getting better all the time. The timing and severity of the injury was very unfortunate. I think it all comes down to the knee. If the knee is bad, he loses some speed and he has not yet developed the skills/mentality to cope without it. If only he'd had another year or so to grow into a more polished player. But if the knee is good, I think he could pick up where he left off and he still has room to improve. In which case you will have picked up a very good player.
Fantastic insight into a player us Stokies know very little about, thanks for the low down on him It will be interesting to see if he does eventually sign especially if he is known to have a dodgy knee as this was the main reason why we missed out on Demba Ba, and that was a massive mistake on our part.
Not neccasarily, Shea has been used at LB, LM, LW and striker but has seemed to settle down as wide midfielder apparently. So he not likely to replace anyone!
Looks very good, i'll see if he can get through his M.O.T. ( must obstruct transfer) at Stoke before celebrating too much.
We all know that most Stoke transfers are done without anyone having any idea until the last minute, so it's probably nothing other than gossip anyway. Didn't we have to negotiate with MLS for Cameron, rather than Houston? If so, how come Dallas are reported to have accepted the offer? Doesn't make sense to me unless I'm missing something. Either way, this report suggests its not quite a done deal yet... http://www.bigdsoccer.com/2013/1/18/3892486/fc-dallas-brek-shea-rejects-bid-stoke-city
The new Fernando Torres, hmmm, the Liverpool variety or the Chelsea one?? Hey ho its a slow day on the news front, Edu, Ness and wotshisname spring to mind. If we are looking for a full back and when are we ever going to get one - rhetorical question I know, but that guy Riise is out of favour at Fulham. he could do a JOLly (see what I did there!) job for us for this season, and see how it goes. You will never get rich second guessing the Maestro from Maesteg
"You will never get rich second guessing the Maestro from Maesteg". But you can get tablets for that!! Riise, could do a good job for us but El Maestro is probably waiting for Wilson to be fit otherwise he would have to own up to a mistake on his part. P.s. I did see what you did very droll!!
Can't fault your thinking there Smithers, on our previous it's a pretty safe bet, if he can play, Pulis won't let him.
