Mwanga Training With Aston Villa... But Didn't The Union's Preseason Just Start?

by Scott Kessler on Jan 27, 2012 11:55 AM EST in News

PHILADELPHIA - JULY 21: Danny Mwanga #10 of the Philadelphia Union takes a shot on goal in front of Wes Brown #6 of Manchester United at Lincoln Financial Field on July 21 2010 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

UPDATE: The Union have confirmed the training session and state that Mwanga will return to the team on February 6.

Aston Villa will be the host team of yet another Philadelphia Union player on trial, according to soccer agent Richard Motzkin.

Former first overall SuperDraft pick Danny Mwanga will train with Aston Villa, of the English Premier League, for ten days. Mwanga joins Freddy Adu (Rayo Vallecano), Michael Farfan (Sunderland), Zac MacMath (Everton), Amobi Okugo (SC Freiburg), Sebastien Le Toux (Bolton Wanderers) and Zach Pfeffer (Hoffenheim) as members of the Union that have spent time training with overseas clubs prior to the 2012 MLS season.

The timing of Mwanga's training stint with Villa is odd. The Union officially began their 2012 preseason yesterday and had begun their fitness portion of it today. Mwanga's time in England directly conflicts with nearly all of the team's scheduled training period at the Youth Sports Complex in Wayne, PA.

Mwanga was rumored to have been put on the trade block by the Union prior to, and during, the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, which makes this training opportunity appear to be more of a trial with Villa. Just like Sebastien Le Toux's supposed week long training exercise with Bolton, Mwanga's time with Aston Villa may prove to be more than just getting back into soccer shape.

The one hang up for any potential transfer of Mwanga out of America is his citizenship status. The 20-year-old is due to be able to receive full US citizenship within the next year, but a move out of the country would put that on hold. Additionally, not holding US citizenship, nor an European Union passport hurts Mwanga's chances of gaining a UK work permit, or winning an appeal for one.

With four days left in the January international transfer window, anything could happen.

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Training

I would be stunned if this was anything more than just a training stint that happened to work best for all parties at the start of the Union preseason. He stands no chance of earning a work permit – not playing at any level for a national team, not a regular starter for his club team, no college degree to fall back on, no European passport, no immediate European family, and it’s highly unlikely an appeals board would believe that he would come in as a potential starter over Emile Heskey, Gabby Agbonlahor, or the-out-of-favor-but-still-there-and-really-good Darren Bent. Knowing that he was dogged by minor injuries throughout the 2011 season, and considering he spent a good chunk of December training and competing with the Generation Adidas squad in Holland, it wouldn’t surprise me if he just took a little extra time to mend. Seems to me the Union (and Wasserman Media Group) put a high priority on getting their young guns overseas for a taste of training to keep them hungry in the offseason, and this is his turn.

Also, if he were heading there with an intent or serious chance to be signed, I don’t think it would have been shared so quickly and openly by the Union. Their site didn’t mention anything about the Le Toux situation for a good week after we all knew he was there and 3 days after he was on TV with Tim Ream taking in the Bolton-Liverpool match with the Wanderers’ reserves.

On a side note – it’s interesting that 5 of the 6 WMG-managed Union players had overseas training experiences (Okugo, MacMath, Adu, Mwanga, Marfan), but no word on what Nakazawa’s been up to this offseason. He’s a great guy, but I really think it’s a matter of time before we see Kyle included in a trade.

by mk_27 on Jan 27, 2012 6:33 PM EST reply actions

Naka

He’s simply not good enough to get interest abroad. A trade wouldn’t surprise me either because we have depth at his position.

by awynne717 on Jan 27, 2012 7:56 PM EST up reply actions

I’d like the Union to trade Naka to either LA or Houston. I think he has the tools to be a good midfielder in the league, but he struggles to find open space on the field. Learning first hand from Beckham or Davis would greatly benefit his career since they’re so good at finding the game. Plus, Naka’s skill set doesn’t exactly help the Union much since the team is pretty weak on set pieces and crosses.

by sjm003 on Jan 28, 2012 3:58 PM EST up reply actions

What you want to do, and what you can do, is limited only by what you can dream

I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.Try and fail, but don’t fail to try, so good way to go Danny M.

by FAN CLUB DANNY MWANGA on Jan 28, 2012 2:12 PM EST reply actions