Jozy Altidore and Giuseppe Rossi are new buds at Villareal (translation from club website).

“Rossi, who lived his early years in the U.S., and Jozy Altidore, American by birth, form an inseperable duo both on and off the field. The ongoing language barrier has favored Altidore to be supported by Rossi at the moment of integrating into the group. “He’s my best friend. He’s helping me out a lot in the locker room and, besides, we have a lot in common,” Jozy commented…”

Image via ABCNEWS and MCalcio

According to reports out of England, Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill is trying to lure American Frankie Simek away from Sheffield Wednesday. He has already had a £2m bid turned down by the Owls, and it looks like Villa will need to double that offer to pry Frankie away from Sheffield Wednesday. With Jozy recently being sold for $10 million, Frankie being valued at $8 million, and reports of Monaco splashing some serious scratch for Michael Bradley, this is shaping up to be a great summer for American players in the transfer market.

It’s always great to see a young player’s dreams realized.

But it’s even better when you get to hear what it’s like to land, head to the hospital for a physical, put pen to paper, have lunch with the Prez and then be introduced to the fans from the player in his own words.

Congrats Jozy…

UPDATE -  Looks as though Manuel Pelligrini thinks it’s in the best interest of Jozy and Villareal to not loan him out to another club as the 18 year old adapts to life in Spain.

Instead Villareal look set to hold onto the young Olympian as his post-Beijing meet up will take him past pre-season preparations.

I’m loving this idea as it’s going to take some time for Altidore to adapt, not only to the game and style, but the culture and language which will play a huge role in his transition and dealing with home sickness.

Don’t be surprised if we see this kid playing a much bigger role than we first expect.  We just need to be careful with OUR (read here - American Fans) expectations.

Our boy Shawn over at The Offside Rules hipped us to this playlist put together by Jozy. Before Jozy makes the jump to Spain, he put together this hip hop heavy playlist. Head over to Rhapsody and see if you share the same taste in music as Europe’s latest American import.

According to The Sun (take it for what it is), Kevin Keegan is interested in pulling off the great American sweep by landing two of our most promising young players. The Newcastle boss allegedly is trying to swoop in and sign Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley. Newcastle have had tons of problems in recent years, but with Keegan looking like he is getting things sorted, I wonder if this WAS to happen, if it would be a good move for the young Americans. Jozy getting to play with Michael Owen, and Michael Bradley learning from a seasoned pro like Nicky Butt…could be a great way to continue their development. I don’t know if I would co-sign on this one yet, but it definitely sounds interesting.

As I was going over some MLS stuff this morning, it got me thinking about the 2008 campaign and more importantly thinking about Jozy Altidore. The US Full team, U-23 (Olympic) and New York Red Bull forward has been given some time off by new Red Bull coach Juan Carlos Osorio after having been involved with 2 camps before the MLS pre-season even started. Only still 18 years old, Bob Bradley has done an excellent job bringing the extremely talented young star along, starting with camps, then substitutions appearances and finally full games with the Full National Team, but there’s still room to worry.

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