U.S. international Alejandro Bedoya is advanced in negotiations for a new contract with French club Nantes, according to sources in the American soccer community. Sources told ESPN FC that a new deal to keep the attack-minded Bedoya with the Ligue 1 club could be finalized as soon as Thursday. If new terms can't be reached before Monday, sources said it's likely that Bedoya will play out the final year and a half on his current contract with Nantes, whom he joined in August of 2013. Sources say Bedoya is attracting interest from clubs in the German Bundesliga and English Premier League, as well as from Major League Soccer officials who would like to bring the 27-year-old to the league for the first time in his career. However Bedoya, having found success in France at a time that a number of top Americans have been returning to MLS, has been determined to hash out a new deal at Nantes. Bedoya, who featured in the United States' World Cup run last summer in Brazil, earned a spot among the finalists in balloting for the annual U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year award which ultimately went to Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard. Bedoya joined fellow national team members Kyle Beckerman, Clint Dempsey, Fabian Johnson and Jermaine Jones as finalists for the honor along with Howard. Instead of moving to MLS out of college, Bedoya immediately went abroad, stopping in Sweden and Scotland in addition to his time in France. He was part of a strong contingent of Americans at the iconic Scottish club Rangers, along with Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu, when financial difficulties in 2012 sent the club into a spiral that ended with them landing in the fourth tier of Scottish soccer. Bedoya scored a memorable goal against Paris Saint Germain in December, and has earned 37 caps for the United States since 2010, scoring two goals for his country.
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