PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Maurice Edu is the latest U.S. national team player to return to Major League Soccer,
The Philadelphia Union said Monday they had acquired the 27-year-old American midfielder from Stoke of England’s Premier League and have an option to purchase his rights.
A member of the 2010 U.S. World Cup team who has 45 international appearances, Edu will be a designated player whose salary counts only partially against the cap.
The MLS Rookie of the Year in 2007 with Toronto, Edu transferred to Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers in August 2008.
He moved to Stoke in August 2012 but made just one appearance, as an 80th-minute substitute against Liverpool that Oct. 7. He had about a dozen appearances for Turkey’s Bursaspor during a loan in 2012-13.
Brek Shea, another American midfielder with little playing time at Stoke, was loaned to Barnsley of the second-tier League Championship on Jan. 1.
Atrtacker Clint Dempsey left Tottenham and rejoined MLS with Seattle last summer, and Toronto acquired midfielder Michael Bradley from Roma this month. In addition, defender Michael Parkhurst joined Columbus last week from Germany’s Augsburg.
