Donovan expresses frustration at collapse of loan to Portsmouth
By JOHN RICE
The Associated Press
2/2/04 5:30 PM
ZAPOPAN, Mexico (AP) -- Landon Donovan expressed frustration Monday at the collapse of his proposed loan to Portsmouth of England's Premier League.
"I had the opportunity to go for three or four months -- no long-term commitment -- and I can come back and live in America. ... It was perfect from every angle," Donovan said.
Major League Soccer had worked out an agreement to send the 21-year-old forward to Portsmouth for the rest of the English season, which ends in May. But the deal fell through because of new restrictions on transfers.
The new rules meant that if Donovan had gone to England, he could not have rejoined the San Jose Earthquakes until Aug. 15.
Donovan, in Mexico with the U.S. under-23 team for Olympic qualifying, has 15 goals in 45 games with the national team. His rights are owned by MLS and Germany's Bayer Leverkusen.
FIFA, soccer's governing body, told the U.S. Soccer Federation last year that it must set transfer windows. The USSF, after consulting with MLS, said they would be from Jan. 1 to March 31 and from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15.
"It's a bummer," Donovan said. "They have said the reason they put these in was to help the player and to benefit the player, and this certainly doesn't benefit the player."
Donovan isn't ready to make a long-term commitment to playing abroad.
"I don't want to be locked up for three, four or five years," he said. "I'd rather be here and try it out first. If I had the chance to go on loan and experience it and then I like it, then maybe."
When he first went to Germany to join Leverkusen when he was 16, Donovan never got into a game. He joined MLS in 2001.
Asked if he had any desire to return to Leverkusen, he said: "Not really. If it has to be long-term, definitely not."
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