I didn't compare them, I just gave an example. Believe me, you're not right with your free loan assumption. If you want to have examples, even of Bayer Leverkusen: Markus Daun, forward, 3 Bundesliga games, 200 K loan to Bremen; Du-Ri Cha, forward, 0 Bundesliga games, 250 K loan to Bielefeld. And both aren't as good prospects as Donovan. Consider the situation that Daun and Cha wouldn't see playing time in Leverkusen this season and were wish-loans, while Donovan is wanted to return and therefore a non-voluntary loan. I think a one season loan sum for him is between 1 and 2 M.
Fair enough. I am not convinced that three samples prove that such fees are the norm and Germany is not the world, but I admit they are good examples and better than anything I have. Leverkusen could have a got a small loan fee for Donovan according to normal practice in Germany. But as far as I know, no one knows what the terms of MLS's deal for Donovan were, so maybe Leverkusen did get a fee (though loan fees are usually chump change compared to Donovan's value anyway). And my memory is that Donovan also extended his contract with Leverkusen which is worth more than some small loan fee.
International examples: Evanilson on loan from Parma to Dortmund, 2M. Bobic on loan from Dortmund to Bolton (last season) 1M. Regarding the past I don't know if Leverkusen got a loan fee from MLS - personally I doubt it. But for sure they want a fee now if they allow him to stay a further season.
HUH??? wtf are you talking about??? didn't landon score in his first national team match? doesn't previous work show up after you do it... thus it is called previous????? i was non-stop critical of arena before the world cup??? you got an A right, try Armas though i got no problem showing my face around here... i know that i am 100% correct, i am not looking at mls for 2 years, i am looking at it's survival... you keep going with the notion that it's alright for landon to dog it here because he can... instead of going against the best in europe don't forget his training with the team... he had access to their much, much better coaches... he was in an environment that demanded the best, or else you don't get rewarded... they aren't going to care what your name is... you gotta show it and if he was scoring that much, he still wasn't good enough to get playing time on the first team... otherwise he would have... oh wait, he didn't play first team... hmmmm, i wonder what that means and please remember, ld said ayso... not like he has a chip on his shoulder about the whole thing, so we can trust his comments on the matter leverkusen can do what they want with their contract in regards to that... similar things are called morality clauses and what not... sure, sure... yeah, i guess he hasn't whined this entire time about having signed twice with leverkusen i guess mls really is as good as european leagues or is that not what donovan has been saying??? it's called getting a life lesson... you have never heard of college football or basketball or minor baseball coaches doing similar things??? jeebus, you might want to pay attention to sports in the future hell, i have heard of nfl and mlb coaches do those things... most nba players take care of it themselves, coaches don't do too much there... this kid needs to get hazed and hazed bad i love his cocky attitude, it's great on the field... but when it is beginning to screw you in other areas that will prevent you from becoming the player you can be... then you need to do somethign about it
i am deeply saddened by the level people are willing to back up ld... it's a great day when fans back up a "superstar" because he is whining about not necessarily getting any playing time in a better league... why should this "superstar" have to train hard? why shouldn't he just be gauranteed playing time? why shouldn't he stay in the states and promote soccer??? 1. you train hard to earn time and to keep your starting slot or at least playing time (key sub) 2. you should never gaurantee playing time, someone else can advance to be better at the same position... besides, he ain't michael jordan 3. how does he promote soccer here??? last i looked, san jose wasn't exactly drawing in the crowds and was dead last in attendance this kid will get playing time with leverkusen, it will make him grow up... germany has been good for many a national team player... going back to wynalda... there is no "oh he is an american"... not with the coaches, i'm sure the players do though... but that is what players do, or was no one here ever a player?? soccer will grow in the united states because people will be attracted to the quality of play, which will continually increase because we are finding better and better young american players... most will start out here and play their whole careers, but some will get chances in europe and do quite well... US soccer will grow for the large part through the national team... that will drive interest at first... unfortunately we won't have another big chance for that for another 4 years... so yeah, landon should stay here to grow soccer, cause in 4 years... he will have another chance at the talk show circuit
jmeissen...would you care to present any evidence that you know better how to develop Landon's talent OR happiness than Landon? Because from where I'm sitting, you sound like an arrogant jackass armchair jealous wannabe who doesn't know **** about what it takes to be an elite soccer player, and you're trying to tell a guy who scored two goals in the World Cup finals what he should do with his life. no, not really
...and while jmeissen is "deeply saddened" by all of this, one also wonders how he knows that "this kid will get playing time with Leverkusen"; apparently clairvoyance is one of his many talents. Donovan, from all reports, didn't much like living in Germany. Getting first team time was an issue, but it was probably just a tad unrealistic to think he wasn't going to have to pay some dues first. I don't follow German football so I'm not sure, but I'd be surprised if there were a lot of 18 year olds starting for ANY B1 side. In any case, maybe I missed it but I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that LDo is afraid to go there because he's worried about getting PT. Perhaps you can steer me to your source. However that may be, the bottom line is, quite simply, he doesn't want to live there. His business, his life, his choice. If you personally feel he should be playing someplace else where his talents would be more appropriately engaged (or whatever it is you think here) then that's YOUR problem, not his.
It's not really jmeissen's problem, especially since Bayer Leverkusen owns his contract. Which BTW is a valid binding contract throughout the world of soccer. They can let him rot if they want to and not even extend his loan to MLS. Or someone (we don't know the exact details in the contract) buys out his contract. At this point I suspect Nike doesn't want to cough up the money to buy him out, otherwise it would be a done deal. So they probably think he's acting like a little whining b!tch too. The Donovan apologists are just so far up Landon's a$$ that they are way past normal a$$ kissing. Of course he can't do anything wrong since he's our Landon. Whatever floats your boat I guess.
for those wondering if donovan would get any playing time... i suggest you rewatch the us-germany world cup game did you not see landon making german defenders look like fools?? the kid can definitely play and would get pt in germany... i won't say start, it's a long season and he could definitely become a starter, but he would have to work at it and earn he has the tools and should be applying them at the highest level... which ain't mls... unless you think a league that starts defenders like vaudriel is top flight
Sorry I couldn't respond to your earlier post, because it was either unintelligible or self-explanatory. It's his life and he can do whatever he wants. When you have these choices, that's when you are compentent to decide them. I would back up anyone with respect to the issue of them living their life like they want. Don't know, don't care. If Landon thinks it is best for his life, he has earned through his accomplishments the right to try and make it happen. I think Donovan would get playing time, but once again if Donovan doesn't care, then that's the end of it. Yes, but it's up to Donovan if he wants to be one of them. Maybe. In summary, Jim lives his life and Landon lives his. Jim should stop telling Landon what to do until (1) he steals Landon's body and (2) demonstrates some knowledge about soccer.