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In a recent interview with Copa90, DeAndre Yedlin, stated how excited he is about the prospect of playing for Tottenham in the English Premier League. He seems to be saying all the right things, and he’ll have no problem acclimating to the culture across the pond. He already knows that he must not like Arsenal, and from the sound of it, Arsenal’s fans have already made it clear that they do not like him.
Ever since Yedlin signed a professional contract with Spurs last summer, one of the biggest decisions on his horizon was always going to be whether he would join his new team in January or June of 2015. On the surface, this would seem to be an easy decision: Yedlin should join the team as soon as possible. But that may not be the best idea.
Yes, if DeAndre waited until the summer to join Spurs, he would be missing half a season of Premier League experience. While that missed half-season could be the perfect way to cut his teeth in the English game, it would more likely be too much, too soon.
As a player, the January transfer window is very much the harder of the two in which to move. There is no benefit of a summer-long training camp, and as a defender this means you have little to no time to acclimate to your new team’s defensive tactics. In addition, the team has hopefully gelled by then, and the introduction of a new defender, especially when a team may think them not needed, can disrupt the chemistry of a team.
There is no need for Yedlin to give himself anything but the best probability for success. From interviews like the one above, it seems like his excitement is at an all time high, and there is no reason to that - it could be one of his main motivating factors - by introducing him into a squad at the wrong time. Tottenham definitely wants his services, but they are not exactly clamoring for them. There simply is no reason to rush.
As fans of the USMNT, we want to see our stars abroad, in the biggest leagues on the planet. That, however, is an inevitability in the case of DeAndre, his new contract makes it that. What is more uncertain is his success, and we can all agree that the last thing the USMNT needs is another potential star’s over seas career flaming out too soon.
Yedlin needs to wait until June.
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