This was a first: A Briton asking me to write a story about Landon Donovan.

The news peg is that Landon is back in England, for two months, on loan with the Premier League side Everton, and he seems likely to play his first match (in his second Everton go-round) Wednesday night.

Here is that piece, which appears in the Wednesday editions of The National.

Landon has been a bit off my radar since I arrived in Abu Dhabi, more than two years ago. It’s not like I can drop by the Home Depot Center and see what’s up with the Redlands kid. The 10,000 miles are a problem.

But I have followed him as best I could, and I certainly knew that he scored the only goal in the MLS Cup, and that he was a bit nicked up in 2011 … and now he is back at Everton, the generally overachieving club where he made lots of fans when he did a previous two-month loan, in 2010.

As I note in the story, that first loan made lots of sense because he was looking to sharpen his game ahead of the 2010 World Cup (where he scored three goals, by the by) … but also because (and this is the bigger reason) … he had unfinished business with that whole “but can he hang in Europe?” discussion.

Anyone who has followed his career knows that his critics, and they are many, often said that his preference not to stay in Germany and play at a very high level indicated some sort of softness. The whole Landycakes thing. Which was absurd, because he is the best field player in the history of American soccer. But there it was, and he certainly was aware of it, and decided to do something about it.

He had been to Germany on three separate occasions, going back to age 17, and on the first two he wanted out and on the third Bayern Munich wasn’t all that crazy about him.

His stint at Everton, however, was a huge success. The coach there, David Moyes, is a big fan.

But going back to England, when he is a few months shy of his 30th birthday, struck me as a bit odd. A last hurrah? Not interested in some time off? Just loves being in Liverpool during the dead of winter?

I reached him, via email, to attempt to ask him the basic question: Why? Why now?

He politely responded that he would not be answering questions from the media while he is in Everton.

Now, that’s how they usually roll, in the Premier League. No player access. Almost none. No set times when players can be reached. Very unlike MLS, which still feels a need to get their guys exposed. English journalists are shocked and very happy if they ever get some time with players. I don’t see how a lack of access makes the English game any better, but we can’t argue with the success of the Premier League.

(I’d say it comes despite crappy media access, and that it also encourages some of the bad behavior in the English media, which is full of idle speculation and fantastic rumor — because players are never available.)

So, I seized my chance to write about Landon. It wasn’t easy. I was about 300 words into my first effort and heading for maybe 2,000, and that wasn’t going to work. So I started over with the news — Landon plays in Goodison Park — right up top.

I am even considering the idea of flying England (“only” eight hours, from the UAE!) to see him play. Fiscally irresponsible. But hmm.