Former U.S. international Earnie Stewart is in talks to become the GM of the U.S. men's national team, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN FC.
Metro was the first to report that negotiations with Stewart are ongoing.
Stewart is currently the technical director of the Philadelphia Union, where he has spent the past two and a half seasons. One source stated that Stewart's move to the U.S. Soccer Federation was "essentially a done deal," though Philadelphia and the USSF still need to agree on the particulars of letting Stewart out of his Union contract early.
Stewart previously served as technical director with Dutch side NAC Breda from 2006-10 before taking on a similar position with AZ Alkmaar, where he spent five seasons.
A committee chaired by Atlanta United technical director Carlos Bocanegra and former U.S. women's national team player Angela Hucles conducted the search in terms of identifying candidates and engaging in interviews. The search committee was then supposed to report its findings to a Board of Directors subcommittee, but one federation source indicated that the subcommittee met only once back in April, at which point it was told that two finalists had been identified, though who those finalists were wasn't communicated.
A source confirmed to ESPN FC that one other candidate was New York City FC sporting director Claudio Reyna. Multiple sources indicated that the limited scope of the job -- its purview is only the senior team and not the youth teams underneath it -- had made selling the job to potential candidates more difficult than expected.
The son of a U.S. serviceman, Stewart spent the bulk of his playing career in the Netherlands, playing for VVV Venlo, Willem II and Breda. He then spent two seasons with D.C. United, helping the Black and Red to an MLS Cup title in 2004. Stewart then returned to VVV for one season before retiring and moving into the executive ranks.
At international level, Stewart played 101 times for the U.S., including three World Cups, scoring 17 goals. His biggest tally came at the 1994 World Cup, when he scored the eventual game-winner in a 2-1 victory over Colombia.