Mike Grella (fail), Sacha Kljestan (success), and Luis Robles (eh) are the three that come to mind for the Red Bulls. Robles and Kljestan have been immense for the club since returning to the US, while Grella had his moments. Agudelo came back to New England after his quixotic journey to Stoke and Utrecht.
SKC doesn't buy national team players, we produce them. No but seriously, the only guy I can think of who came to SKC after being in Europe / USMNT was Feilhaber after a stop in New England. He worked out pretty well for us.
Vancouver sign the Venezuelan Octovio Rivero. NEWS: #VWFC Acquire striker Anthony Blondell from Venezuelan Primera División side Monagas SC➡️ https://t.co/tfJWJ1qVnP pic.twitter.com/dWfuDOjmt9— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) November 30, 2017 I'm joking, I really have no clue about this kid except the VWFC doesn't have the best track record with forwards.
i gues you just must have started watching MLS recently? im speaking more historically. the list is sooo long......and "fail" can also include just not able to sign with a new euro team anymore, imo off the top of my head: brek shea, eddie johnson, altidore, fielhaber, nguyen, agudelo, gatt, parkhurst, etc etc there's a lot more names i could add if i did more research..... point is that if europe doesnt work out MLS is always there as a fallback.....and its there if it does work out too.....can you think of many players who went to europe and werent able to sign with MLS afterwards? i cant.
Biggest issue is knowing how many players MLS teams have passed on because they just weren't interested. It is easy to say which players were signed but it is much harder to say which were passed on. We know that Eugene Starikov ended up in the NASL after having a trial with Minnesota (I think). Looking in the NASL I also see Jemal Johnson and Cristian Ibeagha as players that went overseas at some point but never ended up in MLS. Villyan Bijev comes to mind in the USL as well. The other is the number of young players that have bypassed MLS and not come back to MLS, either because they didn't want to or because an MLS team didn't want them. Some now end up on II teams (like Danny Barbir did last year) but some just disappear never to be heard from again like Vincenzo Bernardo (a NYRB academy kid that signed with Napoli in 2008. Bounced to a couple euro clubs and ended up in Harrisburg for 6 months in 2011 and now maybe plays in one of those amateur leagues in Florida). But if we are just talking players that leave MLS and would be welcomed back you have Cole Grossman and Bobby Warshaw off the top of my head. Unless, of course, we are only talking players that are starters now then, yeah, they'd be welcomed back to MLS because they are likely still better than a good number of the bench players and most of them kill their market value in MLS by leaving.
Shea: came back for a salary equal to what he was making when he left and MLS spent next to nothing (if not nothing) to get him back after Eddie Johnson: His salary in 2013 for Seattle was 156k. He came back to MLS for peanuts compared to what he was making. Of course an MLS team would take a risk on that. Altidore: Yup. Sunderland was a dumb move. However everyone is screaming for Miazga to play for the USMNT and he plays in the same league that Altidore killed. But, if you want to call him a failure than that is ok cause it is a common refrain and one I sort of understand, even if I don't agree. Feilhaber: was a starter for most of his seasons in Denmark. Nguyen: MLS signed him for like the league minium (or not much more since he was making 80k in 2013) and far less than he was making in the V-League. He had to take a pay cut just to come here. Agudelo: Seriously? I'm assuming because he didn't make it at Stoke? He only wanted to play in England and when his work permit got rejected the second time he left Stoke and came back to MLS. Pretty sure he had interest from several Euro teams but he only wanted to play in the EPL. Gatt: Yeah. Several major knee injuries is a failure. I wouldn't have taken him at 200k but Minnesota thought it was a good risk, particularly since it wasn't a guaranteed deal (hence why he is unemployed after a year). Parkhurst: A starter in Denmark. Yeah, didn't do well in Germany. Came back to MLS in hopes to beat out someone like Besler by playing in MLS in front of Klinnsman so he could go to WC14. Signed for 300k while Besler got a raise that year to 633k. Of course MLS will welcome you back when you are likely making less than what you would have if you started in MLS and stayed there.
please go back and re-read my posts in this thread carefully. what youve written here has barely any connection to what i have written....i dont understand what you are trying to imply or how what youve written here connects to my thoughts in any substantive manner.
Nah, it's right on. You said failures in Europe are welcomed with open arms in MLS. I (and, it seems, PhillyMLS) take issue of your definition of a failure, and then also whether the players were welcomed with open arms. Do you mean anyone who comes back - who fail to get the next contract - or people who either didn't play or played poorly? Parkhurst for example - how exactly did he fail in Europe? Feilhaber?
In general, MLS is paying a bit more for Americans than anywhere else. So they are welcoming quite a few, not just "failures". The only guys going to Europe are doing so because A) they are very young and have hopes of the big four leagues B) weren't good enough for MLS and went to a small Euro league or C) were raised in Europe. Virtually all other Americans worthy of playing MLS level are playing in MLS. I think Wood, Lichaj, Hamid and Cameron are the only ones. That said it's always best to have a second offer in hand. Get a decent offer from Europe and MLS will tend to match or exceed it.
It's like other jobs that way. If your boss knows someone else will give you 35% more, your chance at a raise is pretty good even if you don't want to leave.
📰 NEWS: #CrewSC has exercised options on nine players for the 2018 season. Full Story >> https://t.co/iEOqyT9UBf pic.twitter.com/JVqRHJqHPh— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) December 1, 2017 .@DavidNormanJr joined the club at 9. Today, we welcome him to the first team.READ: https://t.co/hPjJX2xXdT #VWFC #OurAllOurHonour pic.twitter.com/7lRERhqmfk— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) December 1, 2017 Should expect Houston to announce their list soon.
Who? BREAKING: #Quakes74 sign defender Joel Qwiberg: https://t.co/EFiYevkxESWelcome, Joel! #ForwardAsOne pic.twitter.com/i0GnIf7AFB— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) December 1, 2017
San Jose just signed a guy who has split his five-plus year career between the Swedish second, third and fourth divisions and Dutch second division to a multi-year contract. I'm confused.— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) December 1, 2017
Interesting, since Kann looked pretty good prior to Guzan showing up. A natural shot-stopper.#ATLUTD signs goalkeeper @mitchhilde from FC Cincinnati: https://t.co/HSbRgW29q1 pic.twitter.com/FSISUiH3S9— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) December 1, 2017
I disagree about Kann, he was never impressive IMHO. But I also wonder what Hildebrandt is thinking. He could certainly start for a few MLS teams but, barring injuries, in Atlanta he'll sit on the bench for a couple of seasons before he returns to the minors.
I guess impressive was probably the wrong word without a qualifier attached to it. Impressive for a backup that wasn't supposed to be a starter nut had to for half a season? Honestly, his GAA and Save Percentage are equal to quite a few starters from last year. Yeah, I know that those stats are always going to be skewed by things like the performance of the defense in front of the keeper. But he wasn't a bad second string keeper this year and I'm really not sure that Mitch is an upgrade (US Open Cup heroics aside). Unrelated: Hearing that Gyasi Zardes could be on the move this offseason. Per source, potential landing spots for #USMNT attacker are DC, Columbus and Vancouver.— Kristian Dyer (@KristianRDyer) December 1, 2017
BIG TRANSFER NEWS! @Independiente's Ezequiel Barco is going to @ATLUTD. Within hours, a pre-contract will be signed to complete the move after the Copa Sudamericana final. $12M the fee [via @CLMerlo] pic.twitter.com/u9bchO7KUY— GOLAZO (@golazoargentino) December 4, 2017
Lot of smoke around this one right now. Sort of want it to happen just so I can watch the PES Stats Database forum implode. I like going in there to get a read on players that I've never heard of or seen from South America. Several lost their collective sh!t when Almiron came. Can only imagine what they do for a top Argentine teenage prospect.
I'm really curious to see how the Atlanta HGPs and their academy kids respond to seeing a $12m 18 year old. Hopefully it will be a positive competitive feedback.
Barco is a monster in my FIFA career mode. 87 rated by 2022. I don't know anything about him other than that.
"To represent #NYCFC is a commitment, I believe it’s an honor to wear this jersey. I am doing my best to represent it the best way possible." - @MatarritaRonald READ ➡️ https://t.co/LAuG03GCih pic.twitter.com/sSW0I6i2wc— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) December 5, 2017 Matarrita re-ups! Good move by NYCFC. Sure seemed to me after Mata went down to injury, offensive production suffered.....especially that of Jack Harrison. Well, Harrison and any other guy not named David Villa.