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24th Jan 2017

Jonathan Spector is the latest Man Utd youth product to move to MLS

Soccer's coming home.

Tom Victor

Major League Soccer and former Manchester United youth players go together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong.

And by that we mean they show up just in time to make something potentially sensible sound like complete nonsense.

Don’t believe us? Jonathan Spector is now a teammate of former Ballon d’Or winner Kaká, after joining Orlando City.

The United States international defender, who has 36 caps to his name, joins from Championship outfit Birmingham City.

That’s Birmingham, West Midlands, not Birmingham, Alabama, in case you were wondering.

“Jonathan brings the leadership and character we’ve been looking for. His experience will be a valuable asset to build a competitive squad,” general manager Niki Budalić said.

The 30-year-old is far from the first former Manchester United youngster to move stateside, and he’s not even the first American to return home after leaving English football.

Spector (eight senior Manchester United appearances) has followed in the footsteps of Kenny Cooper (0), John Thorrington (0) and Jovan Kirovski (also 0, but hey, he scored a few goals for the reserves that one year).

For every Marcus Rashford there is an Eddie Johnson (one Man Utd appearance but seven for the Portland Timbers), and for every David Beckham there’s a Terry Cooke (one goal in eight games for United, but a century of appearances for the Colorado Rapids).

So, who’s next after Spector? Surely it can’t be long before New Jersey-born Giuseppe Rossi heads back across the Atlantic.

Catch up with this week’s episode of 888sport Football Friday Live