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HOUSTON - Michael Bradley won't be returning to Aston Villa after new manager Alex McLeish decided not to pick up the club's option to purchase the American midfielder.

Instead, Bradley will continue to feature for the United States during the Gold Cup while keeping any options for his future open.

Bradley's agent Ron Waxman confirmed Aston Villa's decision to Goal.com via email.

"Michael will not be joining Aston Villa on a permanent transfer," Waxman said.

As he updated reporters Tuesday about his status, Bradley seemed resigned to finishing out the last year of his contract with the Borussia Mönchengladbach if necessary but would prefer to find a solution that is mutually beneficial to both sides.

"I've got a year left on my contract there so we’ll see what happens," said Bradley, before adding, "If something comes up, that’s good for Gladbach and good for me, I’ll look at it. Otherwise, another year at Gladbach."

Given Gladbach's financial situation, the club would likely prefer to sell the the 23-year-old now rather than let his contract run out. However, the club isn't against Bradley's return.

"We are trying to reach Michael by telephone," Borussia sporting director Max Eberl told Bild. "If there are no other option for him he'll train with Gladbach after the Gold Cup and his vacation. He has one more year left on his contract."

Bradley is currently with the U.S. national team in Houston ahead of the Gold Cup semifinal against Panama.

With his club futures of several United States team players still in limbo, Bradley believes that international competition is beneficial because it allows those players, himself included, to focus solely on the national team.

"You get to get away from all of that," Bradley said. "One of the special things about this team is that when guys come in, we are committed to [the U.S. national team] and we don’t let things on the outside distract us."

He added, "It's been nice to be here [in the Gold Cup] and concentrate on the things at hand."

Michael Bradley | A vital cog for the U.S. team, less so for Aston Villa

Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Ogugchi Onyewu, Freddy Adu and even Clint Dempsey all have uncertain statuses within their current club teams. Wednesday's match marks the Stars and Stripes' fifth over the span of 17 days, so there has been limited time to think about anything else aside from fitness and the next opponent.

Still, in a rare moment of pause, Bradley opened up on his perspective about what's happened with his own current situation.

"My experience at Villa was a good one but it is a new situation [now],” he said. "With a new manager coming in, it's totally understandable that it is his club and he wants to have his say on the team."

"On my end, its good because I don't want to be at a place where I am not wanted," he said.

Bradley’s loan to the Birmingham-based club was based on a fractured relationship between the midfielder and then-coach Michael Frontzeck at Gladbach. In May, the club explained that it never wanted to let Bradley leave the club and, now under new management, it appeared as if Bradley was open to returning to the German club.

"No doors are closed," said Bradley to Goal.com after the U.S. friendly 4-0 loss to Spain earlier this month. "I'm just trying to keep all options open at this point."

Alex Labidou is the Deputy Editor of Goal.com USA. Agree or disagree with the story above? Give him a shout @sportslab on Twitter.

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Labels: after, Aston, Bradley, decline, Goalcom, keeping, Michael, Midfielder, options, purchasing, Villa

* Scholes to take up coaching role at Old Trafford

* Ferguson hoped midfielder would play another season

(adds details, quotes, byline)

By Sonia Oxley

MANCHESTER, England, May 31 (Reuters) - Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes retired on Tuesday, with the 36-year-old opting to stay at the Premier League champions in a coaching role rather than extend his playing days.

“This was not a decision that I have taken lightly but I feel now is the right time for me to stop playing,” Scholes said on the club website (www.manutd.com).

“To have been part of the team that helped the club reach that 19th (league) title is a great privilege.”

Scholes will take up a coaching role at the club he spent his entire career and he will make one final appearance in a United shirt for a testimonial in August.

The combative midfielder made 676 appearances for United, picking up 10 Premier League winners’ medals as well as helping his club to three FA Cups and two Champions League titles.

“I am not a man of many words but I can honestly say that playing football is all I have ever wanted to do and to have had such a long and successful career at Manchester United has been a real honour,” Scholes added.

Manager Alex Ferguson had spoken previously about hoping to persuade Scholes to follow in the footsteps of 37-year-old midfielder Ryan Giggs in signing on for another year.

Instead, Scholes follows goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar into retirement and presents Ferguson with another big hole to fill.

“We are going to miss a truly unbelievable player,” Ferguson said.

“Paul has always been fully committed to this club and I am delighted he will be joining the coaching staff from next season.

“Paul has always been inspirational to players of all ages and we know that will continue in his new role.”

(Editing by John O’Brien; To comment on this story: sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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Labels: Manchester, Midfielder, retires, Reuters, Scholes, United

MANCHESTER, England (AP)—Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes announced his retirement from soccer on Tuesday, ending the glittering and trophy-laden career of a player widely regarded as one of the most technically gifted of his generation.

The 36-year-old Scholes made 676 appearances for United after making his debut for the club in 1994 and was the midfield heartbeat of a team that has dominated English soccer for the past two decades.

“To have had such a long and successful career at Manchester United has been a real honor,” said Scholes, who famously eschewed the glamorous lifestyle of many modern day soccer players and rarely gave interviews.

“This was not a decision that I have taken lightly, but I feel now is the right time for me to stop playing.”

Scholes won 10 Premier League titles with United but was no longer a regular choice in the first team by the end of the recently completed season, leading to growing speculation about his playing future. His last appearance for the northwest power was as a late substitute in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley.

Earlier in the month, he had helped United claim a record 19th English title, overhauling Liverpool as the country’s most successful league team. He made 66 appearances for England before retiring from international soccer in 2004 to concentrate on his club career.

Scholes said he will take up a coaching role at United, starting next season.

“What more can I say about Paul Scholes that I haven’t said before,” United manager Alex Ferguson said. “We are going to miss a truly unbelievable player.

“Paul has always been fully committed to this club and I am delighted he will be joining the coaching staff from next season. Paul has always been inspirational to players of all ages and we know that will continue in his new role.”

Starting out as a deep-lying forward, Scholes eventually dropped back into central midfield where his touch, technique and vision could be more effectively utilized. He never lost his eye for the goal, though, and turned his late runs into the penalty box into an art form.

Scholes had a particularly fierce shot and was always dangerous from outside the box.

Barcelona midfielder Xavi recently said Scholes was “the best central midfielder that I have seen—the most complete.”

He added: “He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn’t give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more.”

The only part of Scholes’ game that let him down was his tackling, which was often late and clumsy. He missed the dramatic win over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final because of suspension, but started in 2008 when United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow to claim its third European Cup.

“It is very sad day for Manchester United fans around the world,” said United chief executive David Gill. “We all know that Paul was one of the players that came through the ranks of the academy system in the 1990s and has established himself as one of the greatest players to ever wear the United shirt.”

After Gary Neville, Scholes is the second member of the batch of young talent to burst into United’s first team during the early 1990s to retire this season.

“Paul Scholes- The Best! Great Player, Person, Friend,” Neville posted on Twitter.

United defender Rio Ferdinand said on Twitter that Scholes was “the BEST player of his generation.”

Scholes retired from the England national team at age 29. Current England coach Fabio Capello tried to tempt him back just a few weeks before last year’s World Cup in South Africa but Scholes declined, saying he hadn’t been given enough time to make the decision.

Labels: Midfielder, retires, Scholes, United

STOCKHOLM, March 18 (Reuters) - HJK Helsinki’s Zambian midfielder Dominic Yobe has been questioned by Finnish police in relation to match-fixing allegations and instructed not to leave the country, the club told Reuters on Friday.

A further six men have been remanded in custody in connection with the allegations, the Finnish National Prosecutor’s Office has said.

“He (Yobe) has been suspended from training and games temporarily and we are starting discussions with Dominic about the situation immediately,” club spokesman Felix Siivonen said by telephone from Helsinki.

“When we get more information from the police and from Dominic we will be making some decisions but it’s far too early to say just yet.”

The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation into match-fixing in Finland following the apprehension of a Singaporean man at Vaanta Airport last month.

(Editing by Justin Palmer and Alan Baldwin;To query or comment on this story emailsportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Labels: betting, Helsinki, Midfielder, probe, Reuters, suspended

QUITO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - LDU Quito’s Ecuador midfielder Luis Bolanos is in hospital after being shot in the arm on Friday but is out of danger, a director of the club said.

Local media reported that Bolanos was shot at twice in the parking lot of a shopping mall in what appeared to be an attempted robbery but his assailants had not been identified.

LDU director Esteban Perez told a local radio station Bolanos, who helped LDU win the Libertadores Cup in 2008, was recovering in a hospital in northern Quito.

The 25-year-old, who has four caps, played for Santos and Internacional in Brazil in 2009, returning home on loan to Barcelona of Guayaquil in 2010 before rejoining LDU this year.

Paraguay forward Salvador Cabanas was shot in the head in a Mexico City bar in January 2010 in an alleged argument. He is recovering in Asuncion.

(Reporting by Diego Ore; writing by Rex Gowar in Buenos Aires; editing by Ken Ferris; to query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Labels: Bolanos, Ecuador, Midfielder, Reuters

The Columbus Crew announced on Monday that they have signed 28-year-old midfielder Josh Gardner to a multi-year contract. Per league and club policy, the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Josh is a left-footed player with good passing ability," said Crew head coach Robert Warzycha. "He was drafted by the Galaxy so he has some MLS experience, and will provide the depth on the left side that we need."

Gardner was originally a first round draft choice of the Los Angeles Galaxy back in 2004, but never stuck with the Western Conference team, making only 21 appearances with the club over two years. He also spent time with the NASL version of the Seattle Sounders and most recently played with the Carolina Railhawks.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for me," Gardner said. "I am very happy that the coaching staff saw something in me and decided to bring me on board. I am humbled by my journey to get here, but it is a great opportunity to come to a team that has such great tradition. I look forward to the hard work and to continue that tradition by helping the team achieve its goals.”

The midfielder attended the Univeristy of Cinncinnati from 2001-2003 where he played in all 60 matches for the Bearcats.

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Labels: Columbus, Gardner, Goalcom, Midfielder, NewLook, Roster

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP)—United States midfielder Alejandro Bedoya is set to have a trial at Premier League club Birmingham this week.

The 23-year-old Bedoya has spent the last two years in Sweden with Orebro SK.

He told Orebro’s website that the trial “gives me a chance to see where I stand compared with some of the best players in the best league in the world.”

Bedoya, who will spend a few days with Birmingham later this week, has played seven times for the U.S. national team.

Labels: Bedoya, Birmingham, Midfielder, trial

Gattuso claimed that the Scotsman, himself a former AC Milan player, had provoked him with racist slurs, after which the Italian international grabbed Jordan by the throat before later headbutting him.

Jordan has moved to rubbish claims, and speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “To come up with something like that is pathetic. It is completely and utterly untrue and something so wildly inaccurate doesn't do him much credit.

“He clearly doesn't realise I consider playing for Milan the proudest time of my career, that my daughter lives and works in Italy and that I love the country and the people.”

Meanwhile, Gattuso is set to face Uefa disciplinary officials on Monday, with his club having prepared a dossier to help him avoid a long term ban.

AC Milan president Adriano Galliani said: “What Rino did was an unpleasant episode that was not good. But he has been deeply provoked and should not be criminalised.”

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Labels: coach, Gattuso, Gennaro, Goalcom, Jordan, Midfielder, Milan, Slams, Tottenham

Labels: Arsenal, Comments, David, Everton, Fabregas, Goalcom, Manager, Midfielder, Moyes, Officials, Regarding, Slams

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk recalled Nigel de Jong in a 22-man squad for the friendly against Austria on Wednesday in Eindhoven.

De Jong was dropped from the squad in October last year after the Manchester City midfielder’s tackle left Hatem Ben Arfa with a broken leg in a Premier League game.

Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Michel Vorm (Utrecht)

Defenders: Urby Emanuelson (AC Milan), John Heitinga (Everton), Erik Pieters (PSV Eindhoven), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax Amsterdam), Peter Wisgerhof (Twente Enschede), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg SV)

Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona), Mark van Bommel (AC Milan), Theo Janssen (Twente Enschede), Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan), Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Kevin Strootman (Utrecht)

Forwards: Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Jeremain Lens (PSV Eindhoven), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Ruud van Nistelrooy (SV Hamburg), Eljero Elia (Hamburg SV)

(Editing by Tim Castle/Kevin Fylan; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Labels: Austria, Dutch, Midfielder, named, Reuters, squad