Jovan Kirovski: Once the New Mark Hughes, Now the Old Landon Donovan

Before we even clapped eyes on Tim Howard and Giuseppe Rossi, Jovan Kirovski became the first American player to sign for Manchester United when he joined the youth team in 1992. He was soon labelled the "new Mark Hughes" and looked set for a long and successful career. Sadly, it didn’t quite happen for Jovan.

He was born just north of San Diego, California, the son of two Macedonian immigrants, and showed a lot of early promise. First spotted by Steve Kelly, Ryan Giggs’ mentor, he guested for Glasgow Rangers at the 1992 Milk Cup, and scored seven goals in seven games.

In 1994, Jovan was the top scorer for the reserve team, having made his debut for the United States two years prior, shortly after the USA had successfully hosted the World Cup. Two years later, he was playing for the USA at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, opening the scoring in a 2-0 win over Tunisia.

Despite his international performances, he never made a first-team appearance for Manchester United—these were the days before the linkup with Royal Antwerp—and was released aged 20 due to work permit complications in spite of the PFA endorsing him to the home office and him being a regular for the USA first team at the time. The restrictions were much tighter in the early 90′s.

Borussia Dortmund liked what they had seen, and snapped him up on a free, where he played only sporadically. Notably, however, whilst there he became the first American to win the Champions League, although he was not named in the squad for Dortmund’s final against Juvenus. He even notched a Champions League goal a season later, away to Sparta Prague.

Overall, his time there wasn’t great, as he was competing with the likes of Karl-Heinz Riedle, Stephane Chapuisat and Heikko Herrlich for playing time. After a season warming the bench in Portugal for Sporting, he began his second spell in England with Crystal Palace. Birmingham City saw enough in Kirovski to bring him to the Premier League in time for the 2002/03 season, but again he struggled for games and only scored twice, against Fulham and Everton.

In 2004 Kirovski gave up on Europe and returned to the USA, where he is held in much higher regard, having won over 60 caps for this country. He has managed 30 goals during spells with Colorado Rapids, San Jose Earthquakes and two spells with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Steve Kelly said of Kirovski, after seeing him play for the first time, "Jovan can make as much of an impact on world soccer as Giggs. In two years he’ll be a big name. I’d bet my life on him." Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it goes to show just how good Kirovski was as a youngster, and how disappointing his career has turned out to be.