German international striker Miroslav Klose could be the next big European name to play in Major League Soccer after his deal with Serie A club Lazio expires in May.
The predatory striker has revealed that two MLS teams have offered him a deal and Klose is keeping the door wide-open to a potential move Stateside. And rumors about his future have been circulating over the past few days.
“It is a fact that I have received two excellent offers from the USA for Major League Soccer clubs,” Klose said. “My contract with Lazio goes on for another year and who knows how it will end? I don’t want to rule anything out at this moment.
Klose, 35, has equaled Gerd Muller’s goalscoring record and is now the joint-top goalscorer in German national team history. With 68 goals in 130 appearances he has bags of experience and could be yet another world class veteran striker heading to MLS. (See Robbie Keane, Thierry Henry, Marco Di Vaio et al.)
But where could the German goalscoring machine go in MLS?
Well, on Thursday afternoon Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson sent out a cryptic message concerning Klose’s comments and then quickly deleted the Tweet which was, obviously, pounced on by many as a sign that Klose will not be headed to Portland. The deleted Tweet from Paulson is below.
“@MerrittPaulson: @MLS hopefully he is referring to offers he got 5 yrs ago”
The 35-year-old would definitely score goals if he made the move to MLS but he has offers to remain at Lazio and return back to Kaiserslautern where he previously played for five years.
“Do I have a future at Kaiserslautern? They are and always have been a club close to my heart. Mesut Ozil’s move to Arsenal proves once again that you can’t rule anything out in football,” Klose said. “One minute you’re happy at a club and the next you’re somewhere else.”
The door has well and truly been left wide-open. But would you like to see Klose in MLS? Another player the wrong side of 30 coming to the United States to finish off his playing days, we’ve seen this script before.