After two disappointing seasons at AC Milan, United States international central defender has agreed to a move to Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese Liga. Reports about the move have been circulated for some time, but Portuguese language outlet Abola and French language outlet BloGolo are reporting the deal as done. (Edit: Sporting Lisbon have confirmed themselves.) Onyewu suffered a serious knee injury while on national team duty in the Fall of 2009, mere months after making his move to Italy from Standard Liege, and was never able to completely re-gain his speed and get into the first team. He has taken steps towards getting healthy recently, though, and should have a chance to at least compete for time in Portugal.
AC Milan, United States Defender Oguchi Onyewu Moves To Sporting Lisbon
In order to re-gain his fitness and put himself in the shop window last spring, AC Milan loaned Onyewu to FC Twente in Holland’s Eredivisie. Onyewu was not an automatic starter for the Dutch runners-up, but got plenty of playing time and played games at both center back and right back. That lead to him getting called into the United States’ Gold Cup squad, where he was a backup.
Onyewu was never going to get playing time at Milan, so this move is a good one for his national team career. It appeared that Onyewu was beginning to be left behind in the national team picture, but Bob Bradley or a new United States coach will not be able to ignore him if he’s getting regular playing time in Portugal.
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