I just hope Junior goes somewhere where he will play, since he's clearly not going to play for BVB. Maybe he can join Sonnenhof Grosaspamerica.
Yup. A player like Stuart Holden came back to MLS on a minimum salary deal (35k at the time) in order to jump-start his career. Although, we had heard that loan deals were being discussed. A loan deal would mean he'd get paid the same salary, with presumably Dortmund footing all of part of the bill. Maybe BVB said they only wanted a full transfer, and not a loan. Flores is probably making good money, but one wonders if he's doing so at the expense of his development & future earning potential........................ I think the Lletget comparison is a good one. I don't know if Flores will come back to MLS, establish himself, and earn USMNT callups like Sebastian did. That's "to be determined." This notion that Lletget was seen as some sort of star at West Ham is inaccurate, though. If he was a "star," he'd have made more than one first team appearance in the >5 years that he was there. Its no big disaster to be deemed "not good enough" for Dortmund's first team. There have been countless others from Kirovski to Boyd to Gyau and the list goes on. Those are high standards. And when Dortmund decided that, they chose to work with other players at Dortmund II. So now Junior's in a bit of limbo. It won't be long until he moves on and has a chance to prove himself somewhere else.
I watched Lletget pretty consistently while he was at West Ham, and he was easily one of the best players in the entire academy. Him not getting a chance at West Ham was most down to bad luck with injuries, and having a manager who had no interest in developing youth prospects. How many Academy players came through the ranks during that time? I'll answer, Ravel Morrison, whose career has flamed out already.
Actually, I forgot Morrison didn't even come out of the West Ham Youth Academy. He's a Manchester United product.
Maybe you don't remember or didn't monitor Lletget at West Ham but yes, within the context of the academy and youth system he was a star. There was a consensus opinion amongst fans and media that he was one of, if not the top prospect in the academy for years. His time there is BS legend due to how many people witnessed how well he played and the opportunities with the first team that never came in meaningful competition. There is nothing remotely comparable about Flores and Lletget's performances or reputations at the developmental level with their two respective clubs.
I remember he got a lot of press, but we rarely actual saw his performances on the field. So on these boards it was just a lot of talk. When it comes to Junior Flores, its the same. A lot of talk from people who haven't seen him play in years. I don't know how the hell people know what his level is one way or the other..................................
Maybe you didn't see him play but other people did. It can't be reduced to BS hearsay man. The consensus was unanimous. From match reports, to the press, to first hand accounts from actual West Ham fans who watched every academy game in person, the consensus was unanimous and it helped to form the perception here. And it went on for years. Again, there's no comparison between the two players youth careers.
That whole crop of players who played with Lletget for years on the youth and dev squad pretty much turned out to be a bust. Remember the "fastest man in football", Matthias Fanimo, now playing for Margate? Longtime England youth international Blair Turgott is toiling at semi-pro Bromley in the National League. Lletget probably was the best of that bunch.
Again... Former US youth intl Junior Flores leaving @BVB II when season ends next month. Exploring new opportunities, including MLS— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) April 17, 2017
So I think his best fit would be D.C., NYRB, or Philly. Maybe Montreal or KC if they want to go to a 4-2-3-1 at times.
At least he made the bench: Ob #Monaco oder #Oberhausen - Hauptsache #BVB. #RWOBVBII #RWOBVB pic.twitter.com/3XmeR76074— schwatzgelb.de (@schwatzgelbde) April 19, 2017
to be fair, he reportedly signed a 4-year deal that took effect in March 2014 (signed in October 2012), so depending on the contract he might actually be out of a deal this time.
Yeah, because every player to ever play the game at a high level has the sprinting speed of Gareth Bale. Beisdes, when was the last time you even saw him play? Wait until he signs somewhere, plays some games, and then everyone can make declarations. I don't think anyone's seen him play in at least a year or year and a half. He was good prior to joining Dortmund, but there hasn't been much ability to watch him play since.
When was he good outside of the Nike Friendlies? He didn't even start in the U17 or U20 World Cup for us...
You are right. He played three good friendly games in his life, and a top 10 team in the world signed him to a professional contract because of that. Jeez, it really is hard to argue with you.
Calm down. You were always the one hyping up Flores to be the next best player for USA back when he was with BVB U-19's. A lot of people waited but for you, there was no waiting for him to play a single senior game before making declarations.
There's no reason speculating currently about what he has or doesn't have. No one's seen him play recently. Giggsy made a declaration that he has no clue whether its true or not, which is why I questioned his obvious attempt to belittle Flores, based on information he could not possibly have. There was nothing wrong with giving an opinion years ago, if you had an informed opinion and had watched a player play many times. There's no magical fairy dust if you play pro games. No one has an informed opinion though anymore, so lets all just shut our mouths, wait, and see what happens.
What many of us would give to see @ussoccer97531 held to same standard he insist on placing over others.
Except they are different situations, and this has nothing to do with anything I said years and years ago when I had an informed opinion. Giggsy has no current opinion, unless he travels to Germany to watch 4th division matches. If you can't deduce that, I don't think there's much helping you. But I think you can, and you are just using this as your weekly attempt to try to police me when it has nothing to do with you. Its amazing how on command you do this. You don't even skip weeks, its every single week.