Free agent winger Tranquillo Barnetta is weighing his options for his next club move, and apparently one of them is an MLS club.
According to a report from Swiss newspaper Blick, the 30-year-old Barnetta has received interest from playoff hopefuls the Philadelphia Union. Barnetta just saw his deal with Bundesliga outfit Schalke expire, and is contemplating whether to join La Liga-bound Real Betis, English Premier League side Leicester City, or the Union.
The Union - who just advanced to the US Open Cup semifinals with a win over the New York Red Bulls - are looking to make a push up the Eastern Conference standings in the second half of the season so as to reach the playoffs for the first time since their sophomore campaign in 2011. Philadelphia are currently in seventh place in the East, two points below the next-best team in Orlando City.
In Barnetta, the Union could get a Swiss international that can play both as a winger and central midfielder.
This past season, he started 10 of the 22 league games he played in for Schalke and scored three goals. At the international level, Barnetta has netted 10 times in 75 appearances and been on Switzerland's roster for the past three World Cups.
