Spanish club Villareal close to deal for Altidore

Spanish side Villareal and MLS have reached an initial agreement on Jozy Altidore. The transfer fee amount is unknown at this point, but MLS had been seeking $10m for the teenager.

If Jozy moves to Villareal, he will join a club that finished second in La Liga last season, thus has a guaranteed ticket into the Champions League group stage. That is good news and it gets even better as the club is in a bit of a need for offensive talent having scored the fewest number of goals of any club in Spain's top 5.

Jozy's Haitian heritage might also end up playing a role in his move since Spain has very tight restrictions on non-EU players. As an American, he would count against their non-EU limit, however since Haiti has signed the Cotonou Agreement, he might be able to use dual-citizenship to get around the rule.

All and all, this could be the perfect fit for Altidore.

By the way, New Jersey born Giuseppe Rossi also plays for the Yellow Submarine that is Villareal. Rossi is the striker who rejected Bruce Arena's invited into the US camp ahead of 2006. Rossi instead hopes to be part of Italy's senior squad at some point. Maybe Jozy could convince him to get America instead.