If you're a fan of the U.S. men's national team, you might be paying a lot more attention to French soccer next season. SoccerAmerica is reporting that Ligue 1 club AS Monaco is preparing to make bids for Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley, two up-and-coming American stars currently playing in Europe.Bradley scored 15 goals last season with Dutch club Heerenveen and had been linked to Premier League clubs Everton, Blackburn and Middlesbrough and German clubs Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen. Adu, meanwhile, moved to Benfica last July and has struggled to get playing time after a mid-season managerial change.
This is worth noting for two reasons. One, AS Monaco's president is Jerome de Bontin, a French American who is also on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. Two, Monaco is perhaps most famous for developing French national team stars like Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Emmanuel Petit, Lillian Thuram and Patrice Evra. Perhaps Monsieur de Bontin is hoping some time in Monaco will help Adu and Bradley get as good as those guys.
If these transfers go through, that would put three U.S. national team starters in France. Carlos Bocanegra has already signed with Rennes, who finished 6th in Ligue 1 last season.
(H/T: The Offside)
