Proving once again that the best American soccer players are the ones that can use their hands, Aston Villa has made a £2.5 million offer to Blackburn Rovers for veteran goalkeeper Brad Friedel.This comes less than a week after Villa, a Premier League club owned by American entrepreneur and Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner, struck another deal with MLS for Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan. That deal is still pending Guzan receiving a British work permit.
Friedel, 37, joined Blackburn in 2000 and has 287 appearances with the club, in addition to his 82 caps with the U.S. men's national team between 1992 and 2005. He has stated in the past that "Blackburn is home to me," and new Blackburn boss Paul Ince had said that he wanted to keep Friedel, but when a club is offered £2.5 million for a 37-year-old, it has to listen.
Friedel is clearly being brought in to contribute now while grooming Guzan for the future. Last season, Scott Carson was loaned out to Villa from Liverpool, but Villa balked at the Reds' £10 million asking price for a permanent deal and ended the loan. Ironically enough, Blackburn may decide to use the cash from the Friedel deal to acquire Carson for less than half that price. (UPDATE: Or not. West Bromwich Albion just snagged Carson for £3.25 million.)
