Donovan Trains With Bayern Stars

By Zac Lee Rigg 

This is, technically, Landon Donovan’s third spell in Germany. Sure, Bayern Munich hasn’t purchased him yet and it’s only a ten day trial, but he’s hoping this is the one that sticks.  

Following LA Galaxy’s last game of the season, against FC Dallas, Donovan announced to the media that he was at the point in his career that he needed to try Europe again.  

''Competitively I have that itch and I want to go and I will make that very clear to people,'' he said.  

His previous two spells in Germany were with Bayer Leverkusen. He joined them as a teenager in 1999, but returned to America with the San Jose Earthquakes from 2001 through 2004. Then in 2005, he gave Leverkusen another spin, only to be back in MLS after seven appearances, two as starts.

Many in Germany see him as soft for leaving so early, but Donovan thought he just wasn’t at the right mental place.  

''I'm ready and I wasn't ready before in any way or capacity,” he announced. “I'm ready and I want to make the most of that. I've only got one career and I want to make sure that I give myself a chance.''

 Bayern Munich Head Coach Jurgen Klingsman knows Donovan from the time the former German international spent in California. Now that the MLS season is over, he’s brought the USA’s top international goalscorer in for a viewing.  

“Klinsmann called and asked if I wanted to come in and train for a while,” Donovan said in an exclusive interview with Goal.com. “I thought about it very quickly and said 'yes'.

“It's no secret that now I want to play somewhere in Europe. Regardless of what happens, that's the idea long-term. This has been a good test period for me to see how things go, to see where I stack up, level-wise. It's just a good experience. At the end of the day, I thought it was worth it to give up a few days in of my off-season to come train a little bit.”

After training with the Bavarian giants one day, Donovan was pleased with how things happened.  

“It went pretty well. It's obviously a little hard, just getting off the plane and then training. I thought I did well. It’s very fun to play with that many players of that quality. A lot of the guys who have played a lot of games weren't out there today, but there were a few first team guys out there. Demichelis was out there, Phillip Lahm, Ribery, Luca Toni. They’re all good players. It was nice, a fun training session.”  

Of all the international stars he trained with, the one who stood out most for the US international vice-captain was French winger Franck Ribery.

“I was very impressed with the way he moved around the field. Obviously his touch and control of the ball is incredible. He's a very good player. What you see on TV is the way he is in person. He’s good.”  

When asked via speakerphone at the Honda Player of the Year Awards if Bayern had offered a contract already, Donovan was up to his playful best.

“I wish,” was his immediate retort.  

Donovan won the award, given to the top American soccer player for the year, for a record fifth time.

But one who thinks he can still push on from that and improve is US national team coach Bob Bradley.  

“All players need new challenges,” he said, at the same conference. “When you hear Landon speak of late, you get the sense that he feels the need for a new challenge. That is certainly important, for him and for the national team.”  

One player who went over to Europe and helped the national team is Kasey Keller. The ‘keeper played in four World Cups for America and played in England, Germany, and Spain. He agreed that Donovan’s potential move can only help the nation as a whole.  

“The more players we can have that are successful, the more players that are going to have an opportunity to go over and do well,” he said. “We’re still trying to break down a lot of stereotypes. When a coach goes to a team president and says, 'I need a couple of million to buy a player,' the president isn't going to give him that money to buy an American player, but he'll give five million for a Brazilian player. That’s just the way it is. We're still trying to break that down.”  

Keller first went to Millwall and worked his way up through the club ranks. It’s a strategy he thinks works: 

“It’s a tough, tough task. Sometimes you have to pick starting point. You begin at a lower division and play well there, and then you can step up to where you hopefully belong.”  

Should Bayern offer Donovan a deal, he’ll be doing the opposite, unless one counts those other two spells abroad.

--Zac Lee Rigg is an associate editor of Goal.com USA