DeAndre Yedlin’s impressive performances at the World Cup were bound to result in a slew of rumors linking him to various clubs around the world. In fact, just yesterday the story of his imminent training with Liverpool was making the rounds, although closer examination suggested that idea be treated with plenty of skepticism.
Today, Italian sport daily Gazzetta dello Sport suggests that a deal for Yedlin has been completed. The race was between Italian sides Genoa and Roma, but the capital club have won out. It’s said that the terms of the agreement allow the 20-year-old to remain with the Seattle Sounders for another year, completing this season and not joining up with Roma until summer 2015.
As always, take these transfer stories with a grain of salt until you see the player in question holding up the shirt. Writers might be easily tempted to connect Yedlin to Roma: the club’s majority shareholders are American, along with president James Pallotta. That, and the fact that USMNT teammate Michael Bradley spent a year and a half with the giallorossi before joining Toronto FC, may make this an easy sell.
Then why write about it? Believe it or not, the reason isn’t to make Sounders fans sad (although at least you’d get another year of him!). La Gazzetta are usually one of the most reliable sources of Italy transfer news, so that gives this story more weight than, say, “American sources” reporting Yedlin will head to Liverpool for a trial.
What do you think? Do you believe the young defender will be signing for Roma? And if so, do you think this arrangement, which allows him more time to develop in MLS, is a good one?