Throwback Thursday: Maurice Edu

Despite having spent two seasons with Stoke City, Maurice Edu is a man best known north of the border in Britain.

The American enjoyed a trophy-laden four year spell at Ibrox that ended in 2012 and saw the midfielder represent Rangers against Manchester United and Valencia in Europe.

Edu in action for Rangers

Now in his second year back in MLS with Philadelphia Union, we look back at the career of the 2007 MLS Rookie of the Year...

Factfile:

Full Name: Edu Maurice Edu Jr.

Date of Birth: 18/04/1986

Nationality: American

Height: 1.83m

Clubs: Toronto FC, Rangers FC , Stoke City, Bursaspor, Philadelphia Union

Club Appearances: 228*

Club Goals: 23*

International Appearances: 46*

International Goals: 1*

Honours: MLS Rookie of the Year 2007

Scottish Premier League 2008/09, 09/10 &10/11

Scottish League Cup 2009/10 & 10/11

The Rookie:

After growing up in California, Edu joined the University of Maryland where he won the NCAA College Cup national championship in his second year.

The versatile midfielder was named a first-team All-American in his third year at Maryland before deciding to forfeit his final year in order to enter the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.

Edu is the only first pick to become Rookie of the Year

Toronto made Edu the first pick in the draft and he repaid them in kind as he was named Rookie of the Year in 2007 – he is still the only first pick in MLS history to claim the award.

Edu scored four times in 25 games during his debut season, which was good enough to earn a debut appearance for the US national team in a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in October 2007.

Scottish Success:

Midway through his second season with Toronto, Edu moved to Rangers for £2.6million having scored six times in 41 appearances with the MLS franchise.

The move sparked the most successful period of Edu’s career – he won three league titles and two Scottish Cups during a four-year spell with the Glasgow giants.

Edu complained he was racially abused by two fans after a 4-1 defeat to FC Unirea Urziceni in 2009 but stayed and made his Champions League debut against Manchester United in 2010.

In the same season Edu scored at both ends as Rangers drew 1-1 with Valencia – in all he made 125 appearances, scoring 12 times, before he left after the club went in to liquidation in June 2012.

Stuck in Stoke:

Edu endured a frustrating spell with Stoke

By now an established US international and a veteran of the 2010 World Cup, Edu said it was a dream come true to sign for a Premier League side when he joined Stoke on a three-year deal.

However, his dream quickly turned into a nightmare – the midfielder made his one and only appearance for Stoke as an 80^th minute substitute at Liverpool on October 7 2012.

Half way through his first season he was loaned to Turkish side Bursaspor; he played 12 times and helped them finish fourth in the Super Lig.

Mark Hughes was appointed Stoke manager ahead of the 2013/14 season but Edu again failed to break into the first team, failing to even make a matchday squad before Christmas.

Union Revival:

At 27 and with his career stalling at Stoke, Edu returned to MLS in January 2014 agreeing a loan deal, with an option to buy with Philadelphia Union.

He scored his first goal back in MLS in a 2-2 draw with Chicago Fire on April 5, and would go on to score three times and make two assists in 31 league appearances during the loan spell.

Union finished sixth in the Eastern Conference, one place below the play-off spots but Edu’s performances convinced the franchise to make his loan move permanent in January 2015.

This season Edu has started all 14 of Philadelphia’s games including their 3-0 victory over Columbus Crew on Wednesday evening.

Edu has scored once
in 46 US appearances

What’s Next:

At 29 Edu has a number of years left to play but having failed so spectacularly at Stoke is unlikely to get another chance to make his Premier League dream a reality.

Following a terrible start to the MLS season, Union have won three of their last floor to move into the play-off places and reaching the post season is a realistic goal for Edu and his team.

The midfielder will also be hoping to prolong his international career – he is just four appearances short of reaching the landmark of 50 international caps.

However, he has only featured once for the US in 2015 and missed out on the current squad to face the Netherlands and Germany just weeks before the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.


Images Courtesy of Jeff J. Mitchell, Paul Giamou, Chris Brunskill and Christian Petersen, with thanks.