Rumor: LAFC may pursue Michael Bradley

Just hours after Bob Bradley was named the first ever head coach of Los Angeles Football Club, a new rumor has surfaced regarding a potential transfer target: Toronto FC’s Michael Bradley.

Bradley is, of course, the son of Coach Bradley, and has played for him in the United States Men’s National Team when Bradley was coaching, as well as the MetroStars in 2005.

The speculated move was brought up as a possibility by MLSSoccer.com’s Sam Stejskal in a thread on Twitter this afternoon.

The key point here is in that second tweet, that LAFC and Bob Bradley are believed by several around the league to make an offer. That offer, of course, would have to be huge, as Bradley is Toronto’s captain and has played there since 2014, helping them to an MLS Cup final appearance last year and two consecutive Canadian Championship titles. He also is the third-highest paid player in the MLS, at $6.5 million a year, which presents a whole separate hurdle for LAFC if they were to bring him in.

As Stejskal notes, Toronto would get a lot out of that trade, as LAFC would have to send either a lot of money or some quality players over to the Eastern-conference side. LAFC would gain a big name, a captain, an anchor in the midfield, and a player who is familiar with the coach, while Toronto would get players or a solid amount of cash, plus the $6.5 million annual salary they would have been paying Bradley.

Now, as a disclaimer, this is just speculation, albeit speculation from someone with good sources around the league. Nothing has been officially thrown around that Bob wants his son on the team or that Michael would be open to a move out of Toronto. But it is a trade that seems to make a lot of sense, and given that LAFC have a decent amount of cash available to them and an open roster, as well as a newly-minted head coach, we will have to see if this materializes into anything.

What do you think? Leave a comment below!