American exports remain low despite high profile loans

WITH Robbie Keane on the verge of lending his body to Aston Villa for medical research and Thierry Henry having made that memorable return to Arsenal, you would be forgiven for thinking that European clubs are stockpiling for the winter with US-based players.

I did a bit of asking around, approaching sportswriters and bloggers at the 19 Major League Soccer clubs, 16 of them got back to me. Outside the main high profile players, is there any trend upwards of players leaving on loan from January until the league restarts in March? From what I can gather, the MLS is nowhere near becoming a seasonal feeder organisation for European clubs.

While the LA Galaxy players are making waves for the loan deals they’ve signed, haven’t managed to sign or are about to sign despite earlier protestations to the contrary (I’m looking at you Mr Keane), most of the players are all dressed up but have nowhere to go.