Which MLS Players Would Benefit Most From a Move Abroad?

In this article, I argued that the best thing Major League Soccer can do for American soccer is allow its players to move abroad.

The past few months have seen some very high-profile moves. Freddy Adu to Benfica, Jozy Altidore to Villareal, and most recently, Brad Guzan to Aston Villa.

With the summer transfer window right on top of us, speculation will be all over the place. Which MLS players would benefit most from a move to Europe?

Taylor Twellman

Twellman may have already missed out on his best opportunity to move abroad. Preston North End of the Championship had expressed an interest, but Twellman had just signed a long-term deal with MLS believing that he wouldn't draw interest from Europe.

The Championship is not the Premier League by a long shot, but the competition is still better than MLS. The league features several former and future EPL players, and the Carling and FA Cups would allow Twellman a chance to compete against Premier League teams.

He's 28, so his time may already be past. But if a move somehow happens soon, he could really benefit as far as his toughness and fitness is concerned. He has already proved himself against MLS competition, so he needs a chance to prove himself against even better players.

Jonathan Bornstein

He's a young player with a penchant for playing some very exciting, attacking football. Bornstein is a very competent defender and would benefit from testing the waters in Europe. He is a poor man's Sergio Ramos with his willingness to push forward. Give him some better defenses to ply his trade against.

Chris Rolfe

Rolfe has had some very poor performances with the US National Team. He can score for Chicago when healthy, but would get even better with some seasoning in Europe. I don't necessarily think that he is top flight material, but like Twellman, a move to the Championship would be reasonable.

Landon Donovan

He's already tried Europe once, but did not really get much of a chance at Bayer Leverkusen. He is one of few Americans that could hold their own in any European league, and is by far one of the best players in MLS.

He's still young enough that he could contribute some great years to a European club, and it would really impact his game for the next couple of World Cups.

Also getting consideration: Brian Ching, Maurice Edu, Ricardo Clark, Kenny Cooper, and Eddie Gaven.