I don't think anybody knows for sure. But the fact the team is even being mentioned as looking for a loan points to something, would it not? From their own site: Why would they bring it up here publicly if it wasn't an option for them to do?
Agreed. Just totally unclear on the salary split (if they'd do that) implications on the cap. Hafta figure the loaning club would be ok with assuming his salary as is - but you never know.
It may officially be till the end of the year, but I highly doubt he'll be here still in September. QPR will try to sell him to someone else after the world cup. No doubt there's a clause that allows them to recall him so they can sell him. I'm pretty sure the hole point of them loaning him to us for next to nothing is so he can get in PT before the WC so he'll have a strong showing there so they can offload him afterwards.
With all the fuzziness inherent in the MLS policies, the public may never be sure, possibly even after Laba has found a home for the season.
Seems like they're clearing space for another forward, have to figure that a Laba move within MLS could bring a forward in return.
I believe players aren't usually aloud to play against the team that is loaning them. If it's negotiable, chances are Laba will not play against us
may not be an issue about who he plays against.....reading stuff that the loan has turned into a permanent deal.
It is indeed. TFC will get back "future considerations" whatever that might be. http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/toronto-fc-matias-laba-vancouver-whitecaps-mls/
Looks like that means the Caps have the option to make the move permanent, and if they don't pay up Laba returns to TFC in 2015. So it's pretty much a year-long loan to Vancouver with option to buy/trade for 2015 http://www.torontosun.com/2014/02/27/toronto-fc-did-all-it-could-to-keep-laba
So it's a loan with a buy option that's really high. Strange that they label it as a trade. Maybe it's to keep TFC fans from freaking out that we gave him away, and to keep Vancouver fans from thinking that they're doing us a favour by taking him off our hands for the year. Don't know why else it would go from everyone claiming it's a loan, to everyone claiming that it's now a trade and being announced as a trade, when clearly it's a essentially a loan with a buy option.
Maybe despite all of MLS' overly-complicated and overly-detailed rules they never accounted for the posibility of an intraleague loan deal. And so the league classifies it as a trade. But this is a pure guess.
The article seems to suggest that the only way you can say something is a loan between two teams in MLS is if it falls under the guidelines of an interleague loan. Since those guidelines would've required TFC to pick up more salary than they want, they didn't do an interleague loan so they're giving the player's rights to Vancouver instead even though it's in the spirit of a loan.