Hunt for Guzan not over for Villa boss O'Neill

Feb 5 2008 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

MARTIN O'Neill has given a strong hint he will try in the summer to sign American goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

That will inevitably cast fresh doubts on his plans to sign England's Scott Carson on a permanent deal.

Villa were blocked from completing a £2million move for Guzan last week by the Home Office, who refused a work permit application.

He was in line to become the fifth American goalkeeper in the Premier League, joining Blackburn's Brad Friedel, Fulham's Kasey Keller, Reading's Marcus Hahneman and Everton's Tim Howard.

And O'Neill, who had signed Keller from Millwall in 1996 and played him for three seasons at Leicester, believes Guzan is as good as any of them.

He said: "We wanted to try and get Brad Guzan in because I believe he has got really good ability.

"He wanted to come to Aston Villa, which was really encouraging, but his appeal for a work permit was turned down. They do not tell you why, six people sit in on it and take a vote. I am certainly going to have as look at it again in the future. If you are talking about the keepers that America has produced then he is in line with those."

USA manager Bob Bradley, who coached Guzan with Chivas in 2006, believes he is ready to move up.

"His mentality is really strong," said Bradley, who is likely to pick Guzan for the game against Mexico tomorrow in Houston.

"He got thrown into a difficult situation his first year with Chivas. As a young goalkeeper that's hard.

"I would say not all young goalkeepers would have survived that year. Brad's got a competitive side to him. He's got a real mentality that holds up under pressure."

Rules state that Guzan must have played in 75 per cent of internationals for his country in the two years before the application.

The confusion arises when a club attempts to reverse a permit rejection by convincing an appeal board of the player's ability to make a significant contribution to the development of the English game.

Guzan has played only five internationals, and only one of those was competitive. Permit denied.

But according to his agent, it remains a case of 'when' and not 'if' he moves to Europe.