On the same day that he won Major League Soccer's scoring title while helping the Galaxy tie FC Dallas, 2-2, in its season finale, striker Landon Donovan on Sunday signaled that he is ready to move on.
If Europe comes calling, Donovan is prepared to answer the call. "Obviously, there's a lot of ifs," Donovan said. "If the Galaxy is OK with me going. If the league is willing to accept an offer. If an offer comes.
"In my situation, I can't be super picky, but if it's the right offer and makes sense and if it's the right team . . . from my standpoint, I'm ready to take that step and I want to.
"Competitively, I have that itch and I want to do it, and I'll make that very clear to people."
Donovan, who has had two stints with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany sandwiched between MLS title-winning seasons with the San Jose Earthquakes and the Galaxy, has said he would like to play in England, Spain, or even Germany again.
"If there's a good team somewhere that wants to fork out that money and that's that interested in obviously putting their money where their mouth is, then that's something I have to look at seriously," he said.
"That's not something I can say, 'Oh, well, I'll wait till the next one and see what happens.' I can't be super picky."
Donovan's game-tying penalty kick goal in the 79th minute of Sunday's match at the Home Depot Center was his league-high 20th goal of the season. The 26-year-old forward also had nine assists in the most productive of his eight years in MLS.
Edson Buddle scored the other Galaxy goal, his 15th of the season, off a David Beckham cross. It was Beckham's 10th assist of the season to go along with five goals.
In his eight seasons, Donovan has won championships in 2001, 2003 and 2005 and has scored a cumulative 98 regular-season and playoff goals and assisted on 76 others. He is the highest-paid American player in the league with a salary in excess of $900,000 a year.
His contract with the Galaxy ends after the 2009 season, but it was clear from his comments Sunday that he needs a different challenge.
"When I go home, in the past getting ready for training and getting ready for games in some ways was almost an afterthought," he said. "It was kind of like, wake up in the morning and, 'Oh, shoot, we've got a game tonight.'
