Last winter Landon Donovan was stoking controversy, playing the role of good-guy hero — and the main source of smack talk — in the case against David Beckham‘s debacle of a first season in Major League Soccer.
This year he’s stoking an international rivalry, fueling the buildup to the World Cup showdown between the United States and England in June. Yet he’s also endeared himself to northwest England.
On loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy with Liverpool’s other club, Everton, Donovan is having the kind of success in the English Premier League that has been long sought for the 27-year-old, whose previous European stints ranged from middling to forgettable.
Donovan has a goal and two assists in seven league appearances, helping Everton tie Arsenal and upset Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United. Fans voted him the team’s January player of the month, and The Sun of London named him man of the match against Chelsea — in which he was pivotal offensively and had a clean tackle on Ashley Cole that resulted in the English team starter breaking his ankle.
The biggest question for MLS’ most prized asset — who signed a reported four-year, $9 million contract in December — is will Everton try to make his transfer permanent?
“Every day that goes by makes me think that I want to stay here,” Donovan recently told the Liverpool Echo. “But we’ll see what happens.”
