As a Fire supporter and a Chelsea fan I would love it if we got Drogba, my dog is named Drogba. We named him that because not only is Drogba one of my favorite players, he also fakes injuries when he doesn't get his way.
14-15 million seems crazy unless its 14-15 million Yuan. 1 yuan is about 16 cents, maybe his agent didn't figure in the conversion rate and that's why he's unhappy in China.
His and many other agents are just after the big payday. Unfortunately they are being paid (or not sometimes lol) huge salaries to play in leagues that can't compete with our PDL division.
With both him and Anelka splitting from China as fast as they could, I'd be surprised if anybody ever goes there again, even for the massive amounts of money they made.
I'm not convinced that Andrew is at all willing to spend Keane money let alone the 3-4 Keane price tag of Drogba. However I would be very happy to see the day that Andrew made us all eat our words and prove us wrong. Honestly as much as I love Drogba I would rather him sign 2 players in the 3-4 Million range over a 10+ million dollar Drogba. That kind of money for an aging player has LA or NY written all over it, I wouldn't be surprised to see Drogba at NYCFC.
Drogba to NYCFC doesn't make any sense. They aren't beginning play until 2015. Why would they be signing players now? Why would players be joining a team that doesn't exist yet?
Most of the league are bad, but the top teams can be good, not MLS good but about NASL good, plus they now allow 5 foreign players, so the teams will get better. It was the 1 team, that is the issue when the league does not own and pay all the players, I think the owner of that particular team had some financial issues so he could no longer pay the high salaries. But the China league is still pulling decent talent (and a lot of not so good talent) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Chinese_Super_League#Foreign_players
That is a whole lot of mediocre players. The only player I really recognize is Kanoute, and to a lessor extent Dembele.
Any chance Andy or anyone from the Fire made an effort over the last few days? It was a meaningless "game" but you had Osvaldo, Maluda, Levezzi, Song and several other great players IN Chicago for the Messi thing. When I talk about establishing relationships, this is what I mean. Make contact with these players now and IN Chicago. Get them thinking that they could see themselves playing here one day and then maintain the relationship. In addition, Pablo Aimar was here and is currently out of contract. He is an attacking mid who has played at a high level. He is 33. Any contact? Hell, it would even be cheap as they were already in town and already had hotel rooms.
Pablo Aimar would be a nice addition to the Fire, an attacking mid and would be a good DP. Not the most known commodity (in terms of being a household name) but a terrific resume, really expensive previously (had really high transfer fees when playing in Spain), and just about the right stage in his career. Dump MacDonald, sign Aimar. Edit: He would cost a lot more than MacDonald.
He might in 5 years if "Keane money" is considered below DP salary. Remember what he did to for Stoitchkov?
Yes most are iffy, but they do have some player that would be DP here in MLS and 1 that was (Salihi) Lucas Barrios Kanoute Conca Keita Giovanni Moreno
http://www.goal.com/en-ca/news/4188...a-wants-to-finish-career-with-new-york-or-los Looks like he ready to join MLS, but he only wants to play for LA or NY (Shocker).
I would suspect we could make a case for Chicago. It would take some nudging but I bet a little birdie could chirp in his ear and make him listen. Is he worth what he's still asking? I'm not sure about that one. I never thought he was worth the money he got in China.
As a fan of the World's Greatest Football Team, I despise Chelsea ( though am thrilled that The Special One is back if it means the return of the greatest football show ever). But, this is the kind of player the Fire should be courting. Send the Andell private jet and pick him up and fly him to Chicago. Take him to the Signature Room on top of the Hancock for dinner then walk down Michigan Avenue to the Nike Store where his image is emblazoned on the facade while wearing a Fire jersey. Show him he can live a relatively normal life here while enjoying the amenities of a world class city. Run him out to Navy Pier and catch a shuttle to the Andell company yacht. Sail around the lake front, stopping near Oak Street Beach, and then head back to the city. Drive to Toyota Park where you have invited all Fire fans to greet him. Then pay him what he wants and let's start winning some f'kin championships.