Apparently Chelsea F.C and Manchester United are fighting over this United States International Brek Shea, 21 y.o and seems to be the goods, although he is playing in the MLS which isnt the same quality as the EPL, or even close.

Good article here, Got a few good videos of his strikes and play, He does seem like a good striker and at 6'4 he could be effective in the EPL.

http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2011/10/4/2468300/potential-chelsea-fc-transfer-targets-brek-shea

He is awesome. Watching him in some of the last couple USA games has been one of the few bright spots, he definitely has attacking prowess. He's more of a winger than striker, though.

In my opinion, however, he is probably not Chelsea-quality...or at least not yet. He does have the talent though to be better than Dempsey, Holden, Donovan, other Americans you have probably seen in the EPL, if that means anything to those who haven't seen him.

Edit: On second thought, perhaps I am being quite harsh on him. His size and versatility could be useful, he definitely appears like he's going to really grow into a great player, his cost shouldn't be too high, etc.

I've really only seen him play for the USMNT, I hardly ever watch MLS. He's only just started getting serious minutes for the US, so I haven't seen as much of him as I want. Would love for a great American player to wear Chelsea blue!

Edited October 5, 201114 yr by ace

Would be good to pick up for a cheap price, and would also fit nicely into our young team that we are getting together.

Seems to have a good shot on him, But you know, Finding space in the MLS is alot easier than the EPL

I bought him once in an older verison of football manager...he had ability in just about every position on the pitch (except GK and maybe sweeper I think). But his best positions I think were down the left side of the pitch. Takes me back lol.

That said, I don't know much about him in real life.

Watch the videos on that link, Kid scores some dynamite goals.

One of his more recent assists, against a decent Mexico side.

Training with Arsenal for a month or two during the MLS offseason. I expect he'll be starting tomorrow vs. France as well, if anyone is interested.

Shea is an interesting player. I'm a Californian, so I follow the US team closely, and I'm also an LA Galaxy supporter....meaning I see a decent amount of Shea with Dallas.

He doesn't look particularly "pretty" on the pitch, but he just makes things happen. For example, you'll see him put his head down and take off down the left sideline, and you're thinking, "oh crap, there he goes. He's going to dribble right into a double team." And he does. Yet he somehow ends up on the other side of the pile with the ball still at his feet.

I don't know how or where he'd fit in at Chelsea though. We'd almost need to switch to a 4-man midfield and just let him freelance on the left side.

I see a natural talent that reminds me of Drogba. Hey, has any American ever been blue?

Roy Wegerle springs to mind. I believe he was American.

Cheers,

Butch

He can hit the target, he gets +1 over Mikel, Malouda, Kalou..... need I go on.... {sigh}

I think he's got the talent to be a great player, and his physical size certainly adds to that. Still, I can't see him being ready for the likes of the top 6 teams in England. If he turns out to be good, I'd love for Chelsea to sign him, but I hope we're not planning on bringing him in to turn the ship around in January.

He should go the Dempsey route and spend maybe another half-season or season in the MLS (since their schedule runs basically opposite of the rest of the world) and then force a transfer to either a midtable English team or, given that Klinsman is the USMNT coach, Germany. Then again, I could be just wrong about all of this.

He's been training with us although I don't know how that's been going if i'm honest. His name seems to be associated with half the clubs in the EPL.

I imagine he'd have to be super good to walk into any first team squad at this stage. In which case it would beg the question why would he have to train or trial with any club?

If Shea actually ended up at one of the big EPL clubs, I think he'd maybe start some games against bottom tier teams and come on as a sub against better teams when nothing else is working and you're just throwing a curveball out there to try to shake things up.

He's not technically polished enough yet to be an every week starter for a top notch squad, in my opinion.

He was a candidate for MVP in the MLS at just the age of 21 and probably would have gotten it if FC Dallas made it further. He will be a great player for the USMNT in the future without a doubt. I do feel though that he should stay one or two more season in the MLS to get a bit more first team experience under his belt. We don't need another Freddy Adu repeat.

Edited November 23, 201114 yr by Planet Drogba

If Shea actually ended up at one of the big EPL clubs, I think he'd maybe start some games against bottom tier teams and come on as a sub against better teams when nothing else is working and you're just throwing a curveball out there to try to shake things up.

He's not technically polished enough yet to be an every week starter for a top notch squad, in my opinion.

Agreed. He has a lot of potential but needs playing time to develop. He should go to a smaller PL team to get playing time and experience.