Reports out of England have Liverpool and Manchester City of the Premier League taking a long, hard look at FC Dallas's Brek Shea, the 21-year-old College Station-born star just called to the U.S. National Team at September's end. Problem is, Shea -- a chief contender for MLS's MVP award -- is under contract to Dallas till 2015. "We're not letting him go anywhere," club spokesman Jason Minnick tells Unfair Park this morning.
Maybe, maybe not: You may recall that a little more than two years ago, when Brits first started sniffing around Shea, Jesuit's own Kenny Cooper decamped for Munich while also under contract to FC Dallas (though it was also set to expire at season's end, as opposed to Shea's long-term deal). And, as Minnick reminds: Premier League teams have plenty of money to throw around, and can offer their American counterparts anything or anyone in exchange for their stars, which means they could always make a deal too good to pass up.
Shea's agent Barry MacLean tells SkySports -- which reports that Manchester United and Chelsea are also snooping around -- that, yup, his guy's got a contract. But anything's possible: "I do know people are asking me about Brek as he is the premier talent in America. ... [The Premier League] is on his radar. ... I think England would be an interesting option for Brek, but we will wait and see what happens."