English team ponders new pitch for Twellman

If English second division struggler Preston North End makes an offer MLS warms up to, Taylor Twellman might no longer suit up for the Revolution. (File/Getty Images)

CARSON, Calif. - Revolution all-time leading scorer Taylor Twellman has attracted a transfer bid of $1.675 million from Preston North End in England's second division, according to a Major League Soccer source. MLS declined the bid but Preston North End is considering raising the offer to $2 million.

Twellman, 27, signed a four-year contract worth about $370,000 annually before the last MLS season, shortly after receiving a transfer bid of $1 million from the Norwegian club Odd Grenland. Midfielder Andy Dorman left the Revolution to sign with St. Mirren in Scotland last week.

The transfer window re-opened this month, and teams such as Preston are leading the way in seeking reinforcements.

The Lancashire club is in last place in the Coca-Cola Championship with a 6-14-6 record but is only 3 points behind 21st-place Leicester City and has advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup. The bottom three teams in the 24-team division will be relegated. Preston North End, which has been in the second division since 2000, was a founding member of the Football League and won the title in 1889 and 1890 and has also twice won the FA Cup (1889 and 1938).

"The league has refused an offer for Taylor," Revolution director of soccer Mike Burns said yesterday. "To my knowledge, they have not received a secondary offer, so I can't comment on that.

"Taylor just re-signed a long-term contract with the league, so it would have to be a situation where it made sense for everyone. But we are not looking to lose Taylor. It would be very difficult to replace him."

Twellman has scored 101 goals in 177 playoff and regular-season games since joining the Revolution in 2002. Twellman was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 MLS draft but was paid only $24,000. He signed a contract for the league minimum salary after returning from a 1 1/2-year stint with TSV 1860 Munich. Twellman was third in MLS with 16 goals last year, and is the leading US-born goal-scorer in the last six years.

Twellman has played 29 times and scored six goals for the US national team. Until recently, Twellman would not have qualified for a United Kingdom work permit, which requires non-European Union players to have performed in 75 percent of their national team's games over a two-year period. But Twellman, who is with the US team preparing for a Jan. 19 game against Sweden at The Home Depot Center, has been among the first-choice forwards since Bob Bradley became coach last year.

In yesterday's training session, Twellman was paired with New York's Jozy Altidore at striker during a full-field scrimmage. The opposing team included Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst and forward Pat Noonan.

"Taylor has been one of the league's best forwards for a number of years," Bradley said. "He gets goals in the league and the challenge is to take that to the national team level, where the games go a little faster and you have to do things a little faster.

"He has to get into the same positions he does in MLS games and we feel Taylor can do that, and that was what last year was all about."

Noonan looked sharp during the training session, pairing with Jeremiah White (AGF Aarhus) at forward.

"Pat is a unique player, there is a cleverness in his game," Bradley said. "It's a matter of him staying healthy."

Parkhurst has surprised Bradley with his ability to avoid fouls as a central defender in MLS games.

"There are good examples around the world of center backs who are not the prototype, who rely on their instincts and ability to read the game," Bradley said, "players like Diego Milito and Franco Baresi, Daniel Passarella.

"As the level gets higher players need to understand about the physical side of the game, that it's about contact. But they still need to be smart and make good decisions, use those qualities. Michael has done well in the league and the most important thing is going to be his ability to take the things that come easy to him in the domestic league and apply that to the international game."

This is the third US team training camp for Parkhurst, who was MLS defender of the year last year performing in the center of a three-man back line. He performed in central defense for the US, which plays a 4-4-2 formation, in the Gold Cup last year.

"I'm starting to feel a part of it," Parkhurst said. "I am getting to know the guys and they are a good bunch of guys to be around, everyone has good attitudes.

"I am adapting to playing in a 'four.' There are different responsibilities. I'm usually the last guy [with the Revolution] but now I have another defender back there with me."