I think we need to credit Berhalter here. He's said multiple times that he is willing to hear out players and move them when it is better for them personally or their careers. He's made some moves (or terminated contracts) at times that are baffling to us fans. He's also made some shred and lucrative moves (Gonzalez, Finlay, [controversially] Kamara). He's stated multiple times that Ola's in his plans for this season but would also respect his wishes if it made sense for Columbus. If Ola doesn't want to go to Colorado, Berhalter doesn't have to shop him. I imagine by this point Berhalter has proven he's good on his word that he wants to make it a place where players can trust that he'll look out for their development and their careers.
Players know when entering a deal with MLS that they could be traded at anytime. Only certain designated players have “no trade” clauses in their contracts. I totally understand trying to do right by the player but he also has to do right by his club.
If we were leaving something huge on rhe table from Colorado for a crappy deal with LA, I'd agree with you. However, Gregg has said he has Ola in the plans for the 2018 squad. He's productive and knows the system and players. If the deal isn't right for Ola, playing forward in Columbus could be doing right by the team and the player.
All indications are these teams are low balling us specifically LA. I’d rather sell overseas than get minimal return for a starter when our back up striker should be 3rd string to begin with
If Gregg trades Ola for peanuts, I'll take back every good thing I've ever said about him. Kamara has scored 35 goals in the last two seasons. (One of which saw him not even get on the field for the first third of the season until the other Kamara was traded.) Our next option off the bench has 7.
From what I can find around the webs...Sosa seems more like a #10 who can also play on either wing....so I would think we could count him as depth for Meram and Santos. Perhaps if Meram leaves us, he could start on the wing and then move central when Pipa leaves. Gonna have to wait and see how the Ola/J9 talk shakes out before we can truly know our needs. With that said....I'm expecting us to sign a starting caliber LB from overseas. Maybe we grab another fullback/wingback in the draft for depth. I think we grab at least one DM in the draft. I expect us to draft a striker as our first pick. Even more so now that Ola and Justin are unsettled. If Ola leaves, hopefully we'll move quickly on finding a proven replacement.
My thought is "good luck with that". For me, strikers are hard to find. Proven strikers? In this league? Tougher. Proven ones go elsewhere. Like Stern John, for one. Or McB. Rightly so--they are at a premium, like being a lefty pitcher in baseball.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/01/15/stejskal-portland-timbers-interested-crew-scs-justin-meram "The Portland Timbers recently made an offer to acquire Justin Meram from Columbus Crew SC, sources have told MLSsoccer.com."
I would hate to see him leave us. He's our longest tenured player and has only played for us. Kinda feels similar to Marshall leaving. If it does have to end this way....I want to see him land on his feet somewhere good, and I would be happy for him to be at Portland. Hoping none of this has to come to be....I don't have faith that this organization will try hard enough to replace both Ola and Justin, with the future of the club undetermined. Hopefully theres something to the Santiago Garcia rumors. He would be a sufficient Ola replacement.
Larin was drafted, kid from Michigan looks like a good project striker. There has to be several college strikers with more potential than Adam Jahn
Latest reports saying a midtable La Liga team is interested in Ola. Seems to me it would be more advantageous to trade him in-league than to sell him to Europe. Sell him overseas and MLS only gives us like what, 600k or so in allocation to put back into our roster? Trade him to LA Galaxy, who's interested, and get like 1 mil + in allocation....or like 800k in TAM/GAM + Gyasi Zardes or something.
We may not get the choice. Player contracts are held by the league. Not sure a team gets to veto that if the league wants to make the move.
I'd rather sell him to La Liga. The more Berhalter can demonstrate he cultivates success in growing players careers, the better he'll be able to recruit young, hungry players to come to Columbus to play professional soccer.
And...that's also the type of MLS side that I love to cheer for! I want to hope that a stop at the club I support will be mutually beneficial.
#LAGalaxy and #CrewSC remain engaged in trade talks for Ola Kamara, per league sources. A package of Gyasi Zardes, allocation money and a draft pick has been discussed, but deal would have to be agreed upon before Friday's draft. #MLS— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) January 17, 2018 Adding a further wrinkle to this: I've heard that Ema Boateng's name has popped up in the Ola Kamara trade discussions between Crew SC and the Galaxy. https://t.co/SymEHmZ9di— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) January 17, 2018 Boateng. Ghanaian. Played in Scandinavia. Gigi's mouth must be watering.
Well, the truth is that it is all my fault. I picked up Kamara and Meram jerseys at the garage sale last season. For me, getting a jersey guarantees someone will move or get traded....
Who knows what's going on behind the scenes, but it would be batshit crazy to trade Ola Kamara if we don't have another striker lined up. And Gyasi Zardes, who has the same amount of goals in twice the number of matches, doesn't count. Edit: misspelled Gyasi
Zardes strikes me as somewhere between great and horrible. Mediocre, perhaps? Probably not as good as Ola Kamara, I would say.