Which European Soccer Team Would Suit Landon Donovan Best?

By: Daryl | August 28th, 2009

Don’t laugh. Despite his past failures (2001 and 2005 with Bayer Leverkusen, 2009 with Bayern Munich) Landon Donovan is clearly talented enough to play his football in Europe. Somewhere in Europe anyway. The only question is: Where?

Donovan has recently been linked with Livorno in Italy, and with PSG in France. But neither team has taken the plunge yet.

So with the transfer window starting to slide shut and Donovan not getting any younger (he’s only 27, but won’t be all that long before someone books a room for his 30th birthday party) the time to move is now.

If you were Landon Donovan’s agent, where would you advise him to go?

Obviously Germany’s a bad idea. If your third time’s not lucky, then it’s just not happening. Any really big club seems like a bad idea too, because what Donovan really needs is first team football. Despite technically having moved to Europe three times, Donovan has never once had a good run of games. I’m sure Real Madrid and Barcelona fans will be devestated.

He could do what every other American has done, and head for Fulham. Only downside is that in some ways Clint Dempsey already has the American attacking mid role sewn up at Craven Cottage. Maybe Everton? Tim Howard’s already there, they’ve had a rough start to the season, they’ve got money to spend after selling Lescott, and that’s definitely a squad where Donovan could compete for a spot on the right wing.

Or if there are no Premier League takers, then how about a shrewd move to the Championship? Newcastle have made a decent start to the season, so that might be an opportunity to hop on a big ship while it’s being raised from the ocean floor.

But it doesn’t have to be England. A move to Celtic or Rangers in Scotland could definitely work. Donovan could take his frustrations out on St. Mirren and send the highlight reels back home. Or maybe PSG isn’t such a bad idea. It’s a respectably big club, and – while there’d be competition for places (Ludovic Giuly for example) – he’d stand more chance of playing there than at Bayern.

Hard to picture Donovan in Spain for some reason, but I’m sure someone like Mallorca or Espanyol could use him. And if not Livorno in Italy, then how about Roma? It would be worth it just to read Chris’s reaction I think.

And the good thing about Europe is that it’s massive. There are plenty of football leagues to choose from. The Eredivise has been pretty kind to Americans like DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Bradley, so why not try his luck somewhere like PSV? Eredivise guarantees plenty of attacking football, and is already a safehaven for another man with a history of misadventures in Europe.