Szetela to sign with Roma

Clifton native and Columbus Crew midfielder Danny Szetela has reached a contract agreement with Serie A power AS Roma and will join Roma once his MLS contract expires on Dec. 31st.

Szetela still has to go to Italy to sign the deal, which should take place in the next week or so.

Roma beat out several European clubs for Szetela's services, including Rangers, Lazio, Galatasaray and Everton.

Szetela, who has started the past two games for Columbus after not starting for the Crew all season, will remain with the Crew through the rest of the 2007 season and will end his four-year stint in MLS once the season concludes.

The move is a significant one for Szetela, who will head for the ultra-competitive environment of the Serie A at 20 years of age. You should expect Roma to loan him out to a smaller club so he can get acclimated to life in Italy.

What do you think of this move? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[ian]

Awesome. Roma are one of my favorite clubs. Its good to see our guys go places besides England.

[Trex]

Sounds like a great move for Szetela! Hopefully he does get loaned out so he can continue to get quality minutes. He impressed me alot during the U-20 WC, so I think he'll be able to make it in Europe.

[John]

This is a great move. Roma is a top side in Italy. All he needs to do now is learn how to throw games. Just kidding, very happy for him.

[Jeff]

He should have went to Lazio. The one place Roma does not need help is the midfield. Szetela won't get on the field for a long time.

[sublicon]

wow that is incredible, that's really awesome. these boys are gonna be capping for our first team in no time.

[nutmegger]

This is unbelievable. I would never have expected a bench-warmer for the Crew to sign with Roma. Great news for Szetela and for the future US Nats.

[Aljarov]

Another talent bleeds out of MLS and to a bench/youth club in Europe. Can't see how that helps his development more than playing weekly in front of the national coach - but - they're a huge club in a great league and I wish him well.

[Jim]

Ives,

Does Italy have rules similar to England on player approvals? I'm thinking of American players who were not approved to play in England due to lack of playing time on the National team. However I think I remember talk of him being able to obtain a Polish passport.

[Paul Lorinczi]

That's good news. He looked good on Saturday in Chicago. I think the boy has what it takes to play in Europe and it will be good for the Senior Team that he plays in Italy.

[Moneyball]

Aljarov - I'd tend to agree with you, except for one thing. Szetela wasn't PLAYING in the U.S.

Obviously he won't crack the first-team lineup for Roma alongside one Francesco Totti, but he'll have plenty of opportunity to play reserve league games or get loaned to another team somewhere in Europe where he'll see the field. Clearly even that represents a positive step from part-time playing time for the Columbus Crew.

[JonG]

I was doing my fantasy team, and I was slowly, but sureley picking my players (so far, I had Timmy Howard and Malouda), and then I decided to auto-pick the players so that I could enter SBI League, assuming that since the league hasn't started yet, I can fix my team after I've already submitted it, but it turns out once you submit, you can't change, so I'm sort of stuck...
:-(

[Matt]

JonG, that is not the case. You can click on Transfers and change as many players as you would like before Saturday.

[Braden]

Hey JonG,

I don't know whether you have looked at the transfer menu, but you can still make as many transfers as you like before August 11th.

Way to go Szetela!

[Tony M]

Wow, great news for him.

And once again it may look as if American fans undervalue the potential of our own players.

[inkedAG]

Great news and best of luck to Szetela! I'm always happy to hear about our US players getting noticed and going to good clubs.

[John]

Hey Ives,

I know Altidore is only 17, but is it likely that he his the next U-20 to move to Europe. As a Red Bulls fan I would be sad to see him go, as a USMNT fan I would be happy. Have you heard anything, any rumors about teams in Europe that are interested in him or have scouted him at any recent games? Thanks

[MattinJapan]

Jon G, quickly click on the transfer button so that we don't all think you are a bit menatally loose....

just teasing but hurry up and change your team since you only have free transfers untill the llth...

[MattinJapan]

YIKES!

mentally

[DJC]

Szetela leaves on a free transfer and MLS gets screwed yet again. One thing MLS has yet to figure out is how to make money on the transfer market. Too many of their best players leave on a free transfer after their contract with the league expires. The league needs to do a better job of playing both sides of the transfer market (buying and selling) or it's never going to be able to build its talent pool. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but you need to sell players to buy players and show that your players are worth real money on the market.

[kpugs]

On the one hand, he won't be in an English-speaking environment like he would have been in Scotland or England.

On the other, larger, prettier hand, he will almost definitely be playing first team football (somewhere in Italy, not Roma) come 2008, which he isn't doing in Columbus.

Wow did the Crew really screw up with this kid. Good for Danny.

[Felix]

Great move for Danny if it goes through. We need more players in Serie A and La Liga instead of the Premiership.

[Collin]

Congrats to Danny. Can't wait to see what team he's loaned to. Is there a chance it will be outside of Italy? If so where do you think he would best fit (which league)?

[Frank]

Colin, usually if a Serie A team signs a player like Szetela, he would probably beloaned out to a lower league side (Serie B or C). So I would doubt he'd be loaned out somewhere outside of Italy.

[MetroFlip73]

Danny would have zero problems with respect to a work permit, since he holds a Polish passport, thus he could play anywhere on the Euro continent.