**Everton are closing in on the three-month loan signing of USA striker Landon Donovan, BBC Sport understands.**Donovan is keen to join a European club at the end of the Major League Soccer season to maintain his match fitness ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
And the Toffees are confident of sealing a deal that will see the 27-year-old join the club in January.
The deal is similar to that which will see Los Angeles Galaxy team-mate David Beckham join AC Milan in the new year.
His arrival will provide a much-needed boost to Everton’s injury-ravaged squad as they look to press on in the Premier League, as well as the FA Cup and Europa League.
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“Donovan’s a cracking payer whose career I’ve followed since his earliest days at San Jose Earthquakes”
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The Toffees are currently battling a host of injury problems, but the arrival of Donovan, who is eligible to play in the Europa League, will provide manager David Moyes with another option in attack.
He is the USA’s all-time leading goalscorer with 42 goals in 120 appearances, though he failed to find his best form in the German league during spells with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.
If fit, Donovan is virtually a certainty to start against England in the USA’s first group match of the World Cup in South Africa next summer.