Everyone has already known this for quite some time, but now it’s official. Hull City A.F.C. have picked up midfielder Shaun Maloney from the Chicago Fire of American the Major League Soccer. Usually, these kind of moves go the other way, a player goes from England’s BPL to the USA’s MLS. At least, when it’s a transfer of this variety which gets extensive media coverage, that’s what happens.
And usually when you have a highly publicized BPL to MLS transfer, the player happens to be around age 35-37. Shaun Maloney is age 32.
“It’s tough to see a player of his quality leave but you have to take the human aspect of sport into consideration,” said a statement attributed to Chicago Fire Coach Frank Yallop.
“I’m pleased that the club, Andrew Hauptman, myself and Brian Bliss were able to find a solution that worked for all parties involved and I wish Shaun nothing but the best.”
The Scottish international joined the Fire in January from Wigan Athletic.
“This was a very difficult decision to make but one that I felt I needed to make for various reasons,” said Maloney’s statement in the release.
“I’d like to thank Andrew Hauptman and Frank Yallop for the initial hard work they put in to bring me to Chicago in January. Although my time at the club was brief, I feel very fortunate for the experience to play for the Chicago Fire and would like to thank in particular my teammates for the time I spent with them and hope that in the future the club can become successful on the pitch once again.”
Shaun Maloney had three goals and two assists in 14 MLS matches.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 the Zone.
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