Maurice Edu hasn’t been locked up to a long-term deal with the Philadelphia Union just yet – although it’s very close.
As for his former US national team teammate Sacha Kljestan, the Union aren’t denying the recent rumors linking them to the RSC Anderlecht midfielder but remained mostly tight-lipped about their transfer targets.
“As far as players of Sacha’s caliber, we’re always going to be interested in players of that quality,” Union technical director Chris Albright said in a conference call with reporters Monday. “We’re not going to get into speaking about specific players we’re targeting, but I think a player with Sacha’s resume speaks for itself. And I think he’d be a great addition to MLS no matter where he’d wind up, if he were to come back.”
While the Union will likely have to compete with other MLS teams for Kljestan’s services – the rival New York Red Bulls are reportedly interested, as are the LA Galaxy - they have a much clearer path to retaining Edu, who spent the 2014 season in Philly on a one-year loan from Stoke City.
According to reports that surfaced late last week, the Union were able to secure a permanent transfer with Stoke City for Edu before locking up the 2014 MLS All-Star to a long-term deal.
Albright said he saw those reports but added that they may have jumped the gun – slightly.
“Mo is a player that we think very, very highly of,” Albright said. “He’s a player that gives us a lot of versatility and a player that plays at the highest level. What I can say right now is I think we’re close to being over the line and we look forward to getting that behind us and having Mo be a big piece for us in the foreseeable future.”
The most likely scenario on the field in 2015 is that Edu and Carlos Valdes would partner at center back with Kljestan, Vincent Nogueira and Cristian Maidana all possibly in the midfield together. Curtin moved Edu from midfield to center back after taking over as coach last season and seems poised to leave him on the backline in 2015 and beyond.
“You guys know that position I played him in the past,” Curtin said. “I had my end-of-the-year meeting with him and we discussed where our team had success and where he played. You can come to the conclusion based on that.”
Albright also indicated that the chance to pursue Kljestan could be too much to pass up, even if the Union are relatively deep in his position.
“You’re always balancing position of need vs. the quality of the player,” the Union technical director said. “I think you weigh the resume of the player and how you’ll think he’ll have an impact on your team.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
