No need to get upset. Whatever. The fans in Seattle have their superstar and are "all in" in attempting to buy their championship like LA has done. I really don't care about him suiting up for Seattle, overall it's more exposure for the league. (Is this the second highest salary for an MLS player ever?) What I care about is Dempsey getting injured playing on turf before WC and WCQ!
I have a feeling that Seattle is the only MLS team with (1) an available DP spot and (2) is willing to pay a $9 million transfer fee and $8 million per year for his services.
I'm sure that's exactly the case. But again, that means that if your ownership is willing to pony up enough dough, the rules are easily circumvented.
Isn't that how DPs work? There is no limit on their salary is their? Whoever is willing to pay the most in the allocation order will get the guy because they also have to get the selling club to agree to a fee.
Clint will probably seek a loan move to the EPL to be ready for the WC. Would not be surprised to see other WC players in MLS to seek a similar move.
The team cannot even sign a guy worth 200k like Zelaya who in MLS can easily match the production of a guy like Clint.
I'm with you on this. I thought that Portland and Seattle were 1-2 in the allocation order. I'd love to know Portland's take on this--if they just didn't want to pay the benjamins, I'd feel better knowing that the league's allocation rules weren't just perverted beyond measure (AGAIN) to make this happen. That being said, we have to now realize a couple of things that should have the FO concerned: 1) That a team that we're fighting with for a playoff spot just massively upgraded their squad; and 2) That players around the world just said, "Holy crap, MLS just paid HOW MUCH in salary? I've got to call my agent!" The league just entered a new phase of its existence, and every indication is that our FO just doesn't want to play that game. We'll be like the Oakland A's--walking a razor-thin wire between being occasionally able to compete (like this year) and being out of the playoff hunt by Memorial Day because we're playing a roster full of cheaper players.
Wow, a US Men National Team captain comes back to MLS and moves to a new team and no allocation process. Way to go Gerber, keep breaking those rules. Portland has first dibs, fact. It is time for this favoritism to stop, plain and simple. I hope Portland gets first choice of any player on the Seattle roster and that Seattle gets hit with a huge fine. Sorry, Gerber, rules are rules.
Yes, but in this case there doesn't seem to have been any allocation process, and according to my understanding, supported by most of the jurnos I follow on twitter, there isn't an exception for DPs. A returning USMNT player is supposed to go through an allocation process unless there is a team who still holds his rights. I don't really care if Dempsey wants to ruin his knees on the Sounder's awful field. I'm just pointing out that MLS player acquisition rules are sketchy.
The problem is who else in the league ahead of Seattle can pony up the cash following that allocation order? where do NYRB, LA, and Houston fall in that order with cap space for the move.
He should because he will be pretty much dormant from November (unless Seattle makes it to the finals) until March and that is a long time to be without playing.
I don't disagree. I'm sure Seattle was the only team willing to pull the trigger on this, the point is transparency of the rules. It should be public knowledge that there was a process, which teams were involved and passed.
Ives Galarcep @SoccerByIves 26m No explanation yet from MLS on mechanism Seattle used to acquire Dempsey. Have a feeling it might sound like this: http://youtu.be/iLsDvGlIDh0