European opportunities for Manny Perez

It's a sign of both how far the USYNTs have come and how far Scottish soccer has fallen that we aren't all more excited about this.

There was a time when this would've been big news.

Regardless, if the gets minutes I think it will be a great move for him.

 

I know he turned down a generation Adidas offer. Did he also turn down LMX? I'm assuming there wasn't all that much European interest since he had to trial and they weren't signing him at 18.

 

FIFA rules: if a club signs a player, they have to pay him for the duration even if he fails the physical or can't get a work permit. Generally, he gets sent on loan somewhere he can play.

 

Yup.

There have been a long line of MLS players that almost made a move to Celtic, but they all fell thru for one reason or another (Guzan, Kljestan, Shalrie, etc). These were players at the top of the domestic food chain, and we were looking forward to those moves.

Manny Perez, an unproven 19 year old NCAA player moves to Celtic...……………..and we're all just shrugging. OK, I guess. Times are a'changin.

I spoke with a Scottish fan about their right back depth chart, and its a little crowded right now. Swedish right back Mikael Lustig is holding down the position, although he's out of contract at the end of the season. Then they have Costa Rican international Christian Gamboa. and Scottish U21 international Anthony Ralston.

Personally, I have no clue how he gets a work permit. So this just seems weird. This smacks of Manny just wanting to go the Euro route, and this is the best offer he got. And that's fine. The last USYNTer I can remember moving to Celtic was Dominic Cervi.

 

The last almost-move was Darlington Nagbe in 2016-17...

Portland Timbers' Darlington Nagbe tours Celtic as transfer reports swirl

Darlington Nagbe finally breaks silence over collapse of £3million Celtic move

 

Sunderland signed an NCAA defender out of nowhere like this a couple years back (Sam Brotherton, Wisconsin, NZ international) and he didn't make the grade. Maybe he's had some injuries but he couldn't even got a look in after a double relegation. Lynden Gooch, George Honeyman - they weren't on the radar in the Premier League, but they're our key players in League One. Of course Perez and Brotherton are different people, and you can fill a book with weirder Sunderland transfers than a young free player that didn't make it.

 

These moves on NCAA players are really low risk for clubs like Celtic, Sunderland, whomever. They're all free transfers. Many of them don't pan out.

Its kinda rare these days for an NCAA player to move to Europe and really make an impact in a "big league." That used to happen.

I believe that right now there isn't a single player that's been called up over the past calendar year by the USMNT that's been on that path. NCAA to European club football to USMNT. There's Zack Steffen who went NCAAs to Europe back to MLS then to the USMNT and then back to Europe again. But the cases of NCAA players signing in Europe and having a big impact on that first team they signed for in a big league is getting rarer and rarer. The kids making noise in Europe are going out of the DA at 18 (or 16 if they have a passport like Pulisic).

We have NCAA to MLS to Europe to USMNT. DeAndre Yedlin of Newcastle, for instance.

Hopefully Manny Perez can buck this trend and becoming a contributor for Celtic & develop into a USMNT-caliber player.

 

usmnt (and world cup)!before europe for deandre.

 

Yeah, it used to be more common.

Claudio Reyna, Gregg Berhalter, Steve Cherundolo, Conor Casey, Cory Gibbs, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Charlie Davies, Jay DeMerit, Alejandro Bedoya, Lee Nguyen, Benny Feilhaber, Eric Lichaj (never actually played college soccer but spent a year at UNC), Sal Zizzo (seriously!) and Luis Robles went from college campuses to playing first team games in Europe and getting capped by the USMNT. Robbie Russell also went from college to Europe but, despite playing in the damn UEFA Champions League, never got capped by the US.

I think two things have factored into that happening less now.

Most of the players who go to Europe are now going at a younger age. And MLS is doing a better job, especially thru the academy/homegrown system, of signing the top players that go to college because they are offering better salaries.

Hence, a move like the one Perez is making is much rarer now.

 

I was hoping someone else would be that guy, but can we get some capitalization in the thread title?

 

@TheFalseNine

 

I find this sentiment odd. Celtic has turned into a bigger talent producer now than at almost any other point. They have had a critical role in the development of guys like Wanyama, Dembele and van Dijk, and many players that were simply role players have gone on to have successful careers in the Premier League. They are also behind Scotland’s improved results of late, showing that they have good development (and the commitment to use these players at the senior level) with guys like Tierney, McGregor and Forrest. I think if you’re looking at a club that will put an emphasis on his development, a clear pathway to the first team based on merit, exposure to a high pressure setting where nothing less than winning is expected, an even higher pressure experience in Europe, and in a club where big European clubs are convinced that players are prepared well, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better option. Clubs like Celtic always have cycles where Europe is less successful than would be hoped, even in the nostalgic glory years (it is forgotten that the O’Neill/Larsson years were directly preceded by some of the worst in Celtic’s history). They just advanced in the Europe League over RB Leipzig, hardly an accomplishment to be sneezed at. I think that only this opinion whereby everything in Scotland is seen as stone-aged can justify a lack of excitement for what this opportunity offers. Lustig is breaking down, Gamboa has never won over Rodgers, and Ralston has failed to win his position convincingly as the other young academy guys have. This is potentially very good for Perez.

 

Surprised this hasn't been announced officially yet now that the transfer window is reopened. Are they waiting on a work permit before making an announcement?

 

If he goes to NCFC, he can keep taking classes at State, he can even live at home in Garner. So it’s probably there and not the Charlotte team.

I’ll start a Patreon page so y’all can pay me for updates.

 

Not a fan of the move to NCFC. He'll be comfortable and all, but I'm sure there's plenty of MLS teams that can use him. Their unwillingness accept a loan without an option for a transfer is hurting an American player in this situation.

 

Keaton Parks.

 

That’s no longer the case. Last year or two, you could take up to two with no option. May be totally gone as a req now, but not sure what a team would want with more than two anyway.

 

If he goes to NCFC I'll get to watch him in person, which is nice. I just can't figure out why they didn't sign him to a contract two years ago if this is what was going to happen. Could have made a profit.

 

Inbox (from NCFC):

CARY, N.C. (January 31, 2019) – NCFC Youth Academy and United States U-20 National Team standout Manny Perez has signed with Scottish Premiership side Celtic FC and has been loaned back to North Carolina FC, pending league and federation approval as well as the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate.​

 

Manny has been having a strong season with NCFC playing as an attacking midfielder. He's good at finding open spaces on the field and attacking at pace, with a great talent for finding crosses. His last game against Hartford was a MOTM performance punctuated by this gorgeous assist:


streamable.com/6tnwo