Charlie Davies is now a member of D.C. United. (Photo via Hugo Ivan Muñoz/dcunited.com)

The long road to recovery has an official stop for striker Charlie Davies. Today, D.C. United announced the 12-month loan deal for the striker from French side FC Sochaux.

“We are really pleased to have concluded a deal that will bring Charlie to United,” D.C. United General Manager Dave Kasper said in a release.

“Charlie spent 10 days with us in our first preseason camp and underwent a full battery of physical and medical testing. He simply looks terrific. Coming in, we weren’t sure where he would be, but he’s great physically, has impressed with his mental approach and we’re excited to see him on the field with us this season.”

Davies hasn’t played in a competitive first-team match since the October 2009 car accident on the George Washington Parkway, that killed one passenger and threatened his life.

He will wear the No. 9 jersey for the Black-and-Red. A pretty cool thing considering all the No. 9 tributes to him shortly after the accident.

I’ve mentioned to some folks that this is a great move for both sides. D.C. still needs that home run scorer and if Davies can return to his old self, this will be an amazing deal for both sides. It is good to see Davies in MLS too. I had a gut feeling last summer that his recovery would take place here and I can’t wait to see him play in person when he comes to Dallas later this year with United.

David Beckham wants to go back to Europe next month, go figure. (Getty Images)

This just seems about right. Each year since David Beckham joined the LA Galaxy and Major League Soccer it seems around December or so he’s looking for a winter/spring loan back to Europe. Most people thought this year would be different since his last loan back in Europe didn’t go so well as it ended in a nasty Achilles tendon injury with AC Milan.

Well with his health back to normal, Becks is saying he wants another go in Europe this winter to stay fit for the English national team.

This time however he won’t be headed back to Italy with Milan but likely back to where it all began for him with Manchester United. Beckham had turned down some other offers with Everton insisting the only EPL side he would want to return to would be ManU.

The Galaxy aren’t exactly holding him back this time around. Him going off for a loan spell in England would likely free up some cap space that would be very much needed for the club who seems like they are willing to spend as much as it takes this year to win another title.

I can’t say I’m totally shocked to hear that Becks wants to go back this winter and probably the spring to play in Europe. He’s in the final year of his MLS/Galaxy contract and the has actually done better without him over the years. Freeing up some space for half of the season could help get Juan Pablo Angel and Frankie Hejduk on board. How LA does their salary cap is still a mystery to most within and around the league. This should be an interesting story to see play out.

Cristian Castillo celebrates a goal against the US.

DC United has announced the addition of midfielder Cristian Castillo, a member of the Salvadoran national team who will join United on loan from Leon, a second-division Mexican club. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Castillo will join the team upon receipt of his international transfer certificate and work visa.

The 25-year old Castillo has made 32 appearances with El Salvador’s national team. He scored against the United States in each of the teams’ two World Cup qualifiers in the final round.

I like this addition by DC. For one it adds some depth that was lacking in the midfield and second of all it adds someone with good international experience. I’ve seen Castillo a couple times in World Cup qualifiers and thought he was a guy that would fit in well with a MLS club.

Below is the goal that he scored on the US a while back in qualifying.

Donovan will join fellow US National Team member Tim Howard with the Toffees after the New Year, pending acceptance of his UK work permit application. Given the amount of time Donovan gets with the national team clearing a work permit shouldn’t be an issue at all.

The 10-week loan is pretty short though and I have to wonder exactly how much impact Donovan will be able to make with Everton. But judging by the schedule after the New Year for Everton, Donovan could face a number of top clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea.

What do you make of Donovan’s chances with Everton? Think he’ll make a big enough impact or will he ride on the bench the majority of the time?

Donovan gets a new deal and a loan to Everton.

We knew going into the day that the LA Galaxy would be making some sort of “major” announcement regarding Landon Donovan. It was pretty easy to guess that Donovan was in the works to get a loan deal to EPL side Everton.

Well that deal was announced today along with Donovan signing a four-year extension with the club. The money side of things wasn’t announced but some believe it is a “DP-level” contract, of course without actually being a DP. Of course we all know Donovan’s contract was grandfathered in terms of not being a DP back when the league started the DP program since he was already making above the league maximum.

Donovan’s loan deal to Everton won’t be a long one though as it is for just a short 10-weeks from January to mid-March. Yes that also means Donovan will be back in a Galaxy jersey for the First Kick next year.

That is good and bad if you ask me. I like that Donovan signed a new deal with the league because I’d rather see him here right now than anywhere else but at the same time I think a short loan like that is kind of weak. I’m not saying give him a David Beckham style loan for six months or anything but 10 weeks just doesn’t seem long enough for Donovan to do anything of note with Everton.

I also kind of see this new deal for Donovan as a starter for how the league could be starting to handle it’s star players. We already know they are working on keeping Stuart Holden with a big time raise and signing Donovan like this just tells me the league is slowly starting to get serious about it’s stars here. They realize they have to keep at least some of them to market to the fans out there.

Donovan is the face of the league right now and it was wise to give him a little boost in pay. Hopefully it just means more of the same to come for the rest of the players in the league with a new CBA. But we’ll see won’t we?

What do you make of Donovan’s new deal? And the loan to Everton?

Could we see Landon Donovan in the EPL next month? (Getty Images)

A lot has been said last night and today about Landon Donovan’s potential loan move across the pond this winter. First it was a possible move down south to Club America in Mexico but now it seems to be a loan to EPL side Everton.

He wouldn’t be available until January 1, so Everton fans who would love to see their offense get a bit of a boost by someone like Donovan will have to wait it out another couple weeks. Everton is currently 15th in the EPL table, just three spots from the drop zone. So a move for someone like Donovan is definitely needed at this point in the season.

We all deep down, whether we actually like Landon or not want to see him do well no matter where he is at. Steve Davis brought up an interesting point earlier though about Donovan and his past struggles across the pond. Davis said had he just toughed it out over there back when he was in Germany he possibly wouldn’t be the same Donovan we know today. He may even be more like Eddie Johnson, or Freddy Adu, or any number of US stars that “had” to go to Europe only to just sit on the bench and watch their careers slip away from them.

Donovan is no longer that smug teenager that we hated a while back. His career is on track and a move back to Europe is a good fit for him now, more than ever.

And that’s why a loan makes the most sense here, even if it means he could return by say April or May to Major League Soccer. Who knows how long exactly Donovan would be used by Everton. Remember last year when he went to Bayern Munich he saw some PT early on then to only see his time on the bench grow more until the loan expired. Let him get some time over in England and bring him home in time for the World Cup sounds like a good deal to me even if going to the EPL isn’t my first choice for him. I still think he is a better fit in leagues like Germany or Italy (but that is probably just my feeling).

Beckham looks to be on the move again this winter. (R. Epperley for WVHooligan.com)

Looks like David Beckham will be back in Italy this winter as ESPNSoccernet is reporting today that a loan deal between AC Milan and the LA Galaxy is nearly a done deal.

Negotiations have been going on for some weeks and on Wednesday night Beckham intimated that they were 95% done, although the Milan chief has now confirmed the move.

“David Beckham’s return on loan in January is already a done deal,” Galliani told Sky Sport Italia.

Should everything work out smoothly he will be able to join the club for a big away game on January 10th against Juventus.

Hopefully unlike last year this loan deal goes a little smoother for the two sides and for Beckham. I’m curious to see if it will be just last this year’s deal where Beckham will re-join the Galaxy in the middle of the summer, presumably after the World Cup.

An agreement has been reached between the L.A. Galaxy and AC Milan for the loan of Galaxy midfielder David Beckham effective in January 2009. Beckham remains under contract to the Galaxy of Major League Soccer and will return to the club for training and the start of the 2009 MLS season. AC Milan and the Galaxy have additionally agreed to a technical partnership that will provide great benefit to both clubs. Terms of the agreement will remain confidential.

A wait and see until then however…

It seems the David Beckham loan to AC Milan this winter has some serious steam going into the end of the MLS season. Its a sticky situation though, can the league and the Galaxy get away with allowing Beckham to go across the pond for a loan deal to a club that would rather just buy him out of his contract and sign him for their own?

Its tough, we know Beckham is looking to keep playing in order to secure a spot in Fabio Capello’s England line up now that the Galaxy season is over with no post season in sights.

“Will he arrive?” Adriano Galliani asked rhetorically, according to the AC Milan Web site. “I believe so, yes. He will stay here at Milan on loan for some months, we are talking about it with his agent.”

Its a move to stay in shape for Beckham and I honestly believe he won’t perminently leave MLS and LA for Milan. I honestly believe he enjoys living in LA and doing everything American that he and his family possibly can. Plus there is his wife who enjoys the Hollywood spotlight.

So leaving MLS and LA isn’t going to happen until he retires from the game. So let’s end the discussion on him going to Milan for good.

The main question is can the league really afford to allow their highest paid player to be on loan in Italy during the winter for a couple months? Training with a club to stay in shape is one thing but to get a full loan and play games here and there is another. With Beckham not being the healthiest person it seems like a very risky idea.

So what does the league do? Allow Beckham to go to a club that has plans to keep him for good or find a way to just get him to go for a little while to stay in shape? How do you all see this playing out?

We all thought they’d be transferring in River Plate star Ariel Ortega but that apparently won’t happen at all. But assistant coach John Ellinger did appear to have a decent trip in Argentina with the club’s new potential  partner club. The club discussed today that they are looking at two young River Plate players both by the name of Lucas.

Lucas Gomez, a 21- year old forward, and 19-year old Lucas Malacarne, a left-sided defender.

Dallas received permission from River Plate to bring the two guys in for a look. My bet is they will both be brought in on a loan deal if anything at all here. Don’t expect the club to go out and sign either one of these guys just yet. With the two open international roster spots set to expire at the end of the year, only a loan deal sounds likely at this point.

Two positions the club is really looking to fill in the coming weeks. I am actually more curious about Malacarne than Gomez but we will see next week if  these two will work for the club.

I really have very little information on each player to give you all though. Seeing how they are both young and realitively unknown it is hard to find any useful information for you all today on them.

One other play the club is hoping to sign is Dutch winger Victor Sikora. The club had given Sikora a trial a couple weeks ago and liked him enough to bring him back for a second go at it. The discussion I had on Sunday with a few people gave me the impression that the club really wants to sign this guy soon. With the recent trade of Arturo Alvarez to San Jose, there is an open spot for a winger and Sikora looks to be that guy.

So if all works out the club will fill the three spots that they wanted to do when the transfer window was opening up earlier this month. Once I get more details on the two Lucass I will pass it along to you all.