Is Bradley Wright-Phillips Destined to Join a Premier League Club on Loan During the Off-Season?

It’s something the high profile MLS players have been doing for a long time now, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop any time soon. In the past we’ve seen David Beckham join AC Milan and PSG during the off-season, Thierry Henry has rejoined Arsenal and at one point it looked like LA Galaxy’s Steven Gerrard would be rejoining Liverpool for a short spell under new manager Jürgen Klopp.

Now speculation surrounds the prolific Bradley Wright-Phillips of New York Red Bulls as to whether he will spend the off-season representing a Premier League club. Wright-Phillips had anything but a successful spell in England, where he mainly played for lower league clubs including Plymouth, Charlton and Brentford. He started his career at Manchester City where he graduated from the academy but later moved to Southampton before moving onto lower league football. So it was with somewhat of surprise that Wright-Phillips has had such an impact in the MLS.

Reports suggest that the forward could be on his way to Premier League new boys Bournemouth to bolster their attacking options as they look to stave off the threat of relegation. The 30-year-old would be a welcome addition to Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth and would help lessen the blow of losing Callum Wilson to a anterior cruciate ligament injury at the start of the season, which will see him miss the remainder of the season.

Although the rumors first surfaced in November, Wright-Phillips will be looking to hit the ground running this season as the Red Bulls look to better last season’s effort in the MLS Playoff Cup where they were beaten by Colombus Crew in the semi-finals. Eastern conference rivals Colombus Crew would go on to lose to Portland Timbers 2-1 in the final last year.

With the season not starting until early March, Wright-Phillips would benefit from some competitive matches and help him stay sharp during the off-season. Bournemouth, while not being the biggest of PL clubs, play attacking football under Howe and could be the perfect fit for the prolific Red Bulls striker.

Wright-Phillips has had a phenomenal scoring record in the MLS, and while he will want to limit the chances of fatigue during the latter parts of next season, he could do worse than getting some game time in England over the next couple of months.