Presumably because he's contracted to SKC. I don't believe Flores or Rubin were contracted to any team at the time they went to where they did, so they could do the whole pre-contract thing. Here's a thought, since it's Italy he's nominally potentially going to, if they want him that badly then maybe Juventus should just buy half of his rights with SKC retaining getting a fee as well as a sell-on fee rights so he could be shared between Turin and Kansas City. That way Sporting still has an interest in developing the guy since he can't be in a UEFA country until his 18th birthday, and Juve isn't stuck with someone they can't play on the continent for like 2 years.
They already have a significant interest in developing him and the majority of that interest has nothing to do with Europe or any purchase of his rights. Alot of us forget but his onfield performance is worth more long term than any purchase of his rights.
This is absolutely true, but I'm talking about in a scenario where EPB might actually want to do any sort of leaving, which is something that's hardly a sure thing tbh. I'm still bewildered at why Juventus wants this done so quickly, I don't really see their endgame on this since they'd be better served just coming back in 2 years.
My take that if they come to some pre agreement they get an asset well below market rate in 2 years. Heinemann isn't a dumb businessman and knows this. Love this stuff, but we don't know what we don't know.
Let Juve keep bidding until they stop. That'll give you a very good idea at what they are willing to pay for him.
My understanding is that due to his age, there can be no binding contract between the kid and Juve. So it'll be teh awesome when he turns 18, refuses to sign a permanent deal with Juve and goes back to SKC!!! Sort of like the Sex Pistols' great rock'n'roll swindle.
Presumably so that they can get him locked up before other big clubs in Europe discover him. Perhaps they feel that in 2 years the price for him could be much higher as well. You would only do this if your scouts tell you that this is a special player that needs to be locked up now. We've seen this type of thing before. For instance when Hoffenheim signed Joseph Gyau and Charles Renken before they turned 18. They paid Vancouver to let them train there until they were able to go over. In theory something similar would happen here.
Certainly there were more than a few scouts at the Copa Del Atlantico who scouted Erik, but Tommy Redding as well. iirc it was Redding who finished 7th in voting for best player. Pretty good for a 97 CB.
What's interesting to me is that in order Juve to use one of their precious foreign player transfer slots on EPB, they must think he's superior to the CBs they can get in other parts of the world. Last I knew Serie A clubs were restricted to two non-EU transfers each year. If you're going to use one slot to sign a teenage American defender that will be years away from starting instead of say a South American or African that could actually help your first team right away..............................then you've gotta think that kid is damn special.
But do those non-EU slots count if he's only getting registered for their youth academy? I know that Primavera teams in Italy have lots of African players, for example.
they must. i'd imagine that the first team is registered separately from the reserves and youth. plus if he trains at juve for x number of years (3?) between 18-21 or something he counts as a home grown player for champs league registration.
Yea that's a good point. I just try everyday not to get too hyped up, but it sure is nice that these guys are being looked at by the bigger clubs.
If he gets loaned to Oklahoma City or Orlando, you'll be able to watch every game free through YouTube
You can probably see some highlights from Copa del Atlantico in this thread: https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...a-del-atlantico-canary-islands-2-4-7.1999749/
Promise I'm not trying to bury the kid but all I could find was... Either EPB or Redding are turned really badly at 1:25 EPB with a poor clear that turns to a goal at 1:09. At 1:42 some questionable defending but granted a tough position to be in. But I guess that's what happens when you play defense and someone compiles highlights. They only feature scoring chances = /
Yes, highlights are not the best for a CB. Although in their defense, the Argentinean team was a year (?) older.
The Portuguese sports website A Bola yesterday published a story that SKC rejected an offer of €730 thousand from Juventus last week for Palmer-Brown. They claim this news originally comes from ESPN: Juventus interessada em defesa de 16 anos do Sporting Kansas City