I think he would have to be. Even if you're only a DP because of a transfer fee, you're still a DP for as long as you're on that contract. Now, Toronto might decide they can just re-negotiate/extend his deal and say 'new contract!', but I would think the league would call shenanigans on that one.
They didn't pay and aren't going to pay 100 million, for that they could get Messi. Obviously the 100 million thing is bad and confused reporting. Bradley is probably worth 10-20 and Defoe might be worth a bit more. And that is being generous.
Messi's worth anywhere from 150-250 million, but yes, I get your point. Both Defoe and Bradley had been talked about in the transfer market to the tune of about 15 million apiece.
gotta affect his confidence too. not even a full season with the team, and gets sold/traded at 21. he always looks like he's the school geek afraid of getting beaten up by bullies. i'm a strong proponent of MLS should have a 4th domestic DP spot, to be used for US/Can players only (similar to Australian A League)
The article was poorly written and researched. It was obvious written by a guy with a little bit of knowledge who wanted to get a scoop. The writing was unclear enough to insinuate that the most goals scored in MLS in one season was just 17, when he meant that that was the team record for Toronto. No one is going to score 40 goals in a season, and certainly not Defoe. Thirty is possible, but you name better start with Me and end ssi.
Yes, it's surely the transfer fees plus salaries over the max life of the contracts. It also didn't say Defoe would score 30 goals himself, that adding him, Bradley, and Gilberto would increase the team's scoring by 30-40 goals. If Bradley has 10, Gilberto 10-15 and Defoe gets 20, then that is likely 30 more than the guys they replace.
Still not getting anywhere close. Even if we be really generous and say they get Bradley for 15 mil and Defoe for 20, they would then both cumulatively being paid 65 million dollars over the course of a couple of years. That is ridiculous for soccer players in any country. Messi only gets paid 20 mil a year by Barcelona. Defoe and Bradley, while excellent players, who I want to come to MLS, are nowhere near that level of importance and influence. They are both realistically getting between 4-6 mil a year at best.
Surprised by the easy going nature regarding the 4 DP issue. Bradley, Defoe, Gilberto, Laba Remember when Toronto tried to sign Melberg and Hassli it turned into a 100 page post how the TFC was trying to bend the MLS rules
Wahl's latest article quoted his current Roma contract at "$1.09M/year after taxes..." Going on the taxes most athletes pay in the U.S., he's probably making the equivalent of at least $2million/year gross salary. Still probably slightly undervalued, but more in line with non-star, non-CL level players in Europe.
The number is pure rumor and conjecture by someone, that has now gotten passed on as fact, or perhaps the reporter misheard the number, "purple monkey dishwasher." Neither of the players is no where near the value of that amount. We need to drop it down below the 50 million mark, and then it at least seems somewhat plausible.
It's clearly counting their salaries for the length of the contract. If we're going by the 6.5 million figure for 5 years in MB's case, you're already at 30+ million for the whole thing. Add in a 12ish million bid and you're already halfway there, for the half of the package! For reference purposes, I'm pretty sure the new Quakes stadium is going to cost less than these two deals if those numbers are remotely correct.
Ummm...the past page or two has been almost exclusively devoted to how TFC can pull this off. Would be a shame to see Laba be the odd man out.
But, Bradley isn't going to take, and they are not going to sign him to a 5 year contract. Probably 3 with an option year. They would be beyond idiotic to sign Defoe to anything more than a two year contract. The 100 million number is total crap. If they wanted to spend that they could possibly sign a real superstar and not an aging English man, and a US player desperate for playing time before the WC.
Not necessarily; an MB that's regularly starting for TFC might be better than an unused sub at Roma. Roma has made it clear that they're focusing on adding depth to their midfield, which could push MB further down the pecking order.
Because he just killed the national team. Klinsmann trying to get a hold of Garber as we speak. Probably tore up all the phone books with this news.
Ignore the number, it isn't real. And the only source it comes form is pocked full of poor journalism.
It's ********ing Toronto. Not NYRB, Seattle, LA, Portland, RSL, SKC. Only thing worse is Chivas USA bringing in Jozy Altidore.
Assuming Michael abides by the whole contract, which I'm not hugely sure about, is there really a huge difference between out of contract at 29 if we do the whole Eurosnob thing again than at 31? And if this was really a loan on steroids (TFC could still pull a TFC this year, lest you forget), wouldn't the terms be much shorter and potentially structured weirdly ala Bojan?