Will the Irish invasion of Major League Soccer continue this summer?
With his club Wigan Athletic set to be relegated from the English Championship to League One, England’s third tier, Republic of Ireland international James McClean is mulling a move to MLS, according to multiple media reports.
The Irish Mirrorreported on Thursday that McClean is being courted by the New York Red Bulls, while ESPNFC cited sources claiming that the tattooed winger is also on Orlando City SC’s radar.
Orlando beat reporter Paul Tenorio took to Twitter to cast doubt on the Lions link, however.
A teammate of current MLSers Roger Espinoza and Shaun Maloney during their stints at Wigan, McClean was named the club’s player of the year for the 2014-15 campaign, which is set to end unhappily with the Latics’ second relegation in three seasons. He previously featured regularly in the Premier League for Sunderland.
McClean, who turned 26 last month, has scored four goals in 25 caps for Ireland, having switched his allegiance from Northern Ireland, where he began his youth international career.
His national team colleagues Robbie Keane, Sean St. Ledger and Kevin Doyle are in varying stages of their own North American adventures. The LA Galaxy's Keane is the reigning MLS MVP, St. Ledger has thus far made three appearances in his first year at Orlando City and Doyle is set to join the Colorado Rapids later this season.
