Did the Crew make an effort to bring Michael Bradley to Columbus?

Hours after news broke that Toronto FC was planning to sign the United States national team member, I asked Crew coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter what he thought of the news.

Did the Crew make an effort to bring Michael Bradley to Columbus?

Hours after news broke that Toronto FC was planning to sign the United States national team member, I asked Crew coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter what he thought of the news.

�I think it�s great,� he said. �I think it�s great for the league. I think it�s great for Toronto FC. I think it�s great for Michael Bradley personally. I�m excited to have him back in the league. He�s at a great age. He�s going to be a strong contributor to the national team for years to come, so it speaks volumes to what our league is doing.�

Rumors of Bradley�s return to MLS first began to surface at nearly the exact same time the Crew announced it had signed Ross Friedman and Matt Walker to homegrown player contracts.The immediate result on Twitter was a number of Crew fans upset that while their Trillium Cup rivals were busy signing some of the world�s top talent – including Jermain Defoe – their favorite team was adding players who most recently were playing collegiate soccer.

I mentioned that to Berhalter, and here was his response: �I could understand that, but what I could also say is who knows that we weren�t in any of those conversations with those guys?�

I said that I had assumed that no, the Crew had not been involved in conversations with either Defoe or Bradley. Was the Crew in talks with either of them?

�Well, who knows?� Berhalter said.

Presumably Berhalter would, I replied.

�Exactly,� he said.

Interpret that as you will.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJard

Did the Crew make an effort to bring Michael Bradley to Columbus?

Hours after news broke that Toronto FC was planning to sign the United States national team member, I asked Crew coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter what he thought of the news.

�I think it�s great,� he said. �I think it�s great for the league. I think it�s great for Toronto FC. I think it�s great for Michael Bradley personally. I�m excited to have him back in the league. He�s at a great age. He�s going to be a strong contributor to the national team for years to come, so it speaks volumes to what our league is doing.�

Rumors of Bradley�s return to MLS first began to surface at nearly the exact same time the Crew announced it had signed Ross Friedman and Matt Walker to homegrown player contracts.The immediate result on Twitter was a number of Crew fans upset that while the Trillium Cup rivals were busy signing some of the world�s top talent – including Jermain Defoe – their favorite team was adding players who most recently were playing collegiate soccer.

I mentioned that to Berhalter, and here was his response: �I could understand that, but what I could also say is who knows that we weren�t in any of those conversations with those guys?�

I said that I had assumed that no, the Crew had not been involved in conversations with either Defoe or Bradley. Was the Crew in talks with either of them?

�Well, who knows?� Berhalter said.

Presumably Berhalter would, I replied.

�Exactly,� he said.

Interpret that as you will.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

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