It's hard to tell but I see Sargent's ceiling as higher than Weah due to his off-the-ball movement. Also their situations: Weah is unlikely to ever dress for PSG beyond garbage minutes (at least so far PSG has the millions from the Sheiks coming), while Sargent has a much better chance to become a solid rotation striker with Bremen. At this point I see Bremen, a mid-to-upper table BuLi club, as Josh's ceiling, while Weah is more likely to land in some mid-to-lower table Ligue 1 club.
So maybe the manager wasn't being arrogant and derailing Josh's career with all those snubs? Maybe Josh needs to develop more?
Ok and Erik-Palmer Brown had only 20 first team appearances before he was 20 in the MLS. Andrew Carleton? He has 7 MLS appearances. There's a huge argument that Sporting KC is handling Busio differently because of how much they didn't really give Palmer-Brown opps... Davies? Quality Canadian player developed by the club from 15 on. Sargent didn't sign with the MLS in part because he would have been forced to sign for Sporting KC based on the geographic zone, a club that had zero to do with his development. Like literally his entire development was Scott Gallagher, a year stint at IMG, and all using USMNT youth matches as a shop window. I'm all for the MLS as a development model, but 1) young attackers are much less likely to get the opportunity than defenders or midfielders 2) Sargent was forced to sign for one specific MLS team, vs finding a club situation he was most comfortable with and 3) he's 19 let's chill.
I think it's pretty clear Busio has earned his PT producing goals and assists when given the opportunity. Given his talent and national team exposure, Sargent almost certainly would have done the same. EPB is now 22 and just hasn't been a stand out when giving the opportunity. In all likelihood he is just another highly rated youth player who reaches his level as a solid pro and nothing more. I have no doubt we'll be having the same conservation next summer after Josh spends another year playing center bench in Bremen. "He's only 20 chill", etc. I don't really blame the club here. Sargent chose this and now he has to follow this career path.
The jury's still out on whether Busio will see consistent minutes. SKC has been injury depleted this year, and has only started 4 matches. He scored 3 goals, and has only played 120ish minutes over the past 6 matches... Surely he's earned more time than that so far this year.
He's oly 19 and EPB is only 22. Plenty of time. Even if they only play for scrub teams in the top 5/10 leagues or are super-subs; not bad IMO. The importance is they play well and are well-regarded. Their achievements makes it easier for the next generation.
I wasn't blaming the club. I was just saying that signing with an MLS club has been sort of just as risky for young American talent. With that track record *was singling out KC specifically because that was the club Sargent would have been FORCED to sign with* why not take your options and go to a league that plays younger talent, has no problem being a developing and selling league, AND pays you more? He's still getting national team opportunities, so if anyone is freaking out I think it might be you? Is Jordan Morris a better player because he stayed home? We will never know, but I don't see him ever playing at a World Cup. I mean it's very possible, but I would bet on the odds given.
You shouldn’t overestimate how much European clubs pay either. Reportedly the difference between what WB and Seattle were offering Jordan Morris wasn’t substantial.
Well, he was coming out of college right? It's a positive that Sounders saw much in him to offer a large salary. I'm sure if he did well in the first 2 years, he could have easily doubled that at Bremen.
It’s less so European clubs (outside of the larger ones) and more so English clubs that can offer much much more in wages. But Bremen move will set him for the next contract more so than an MLS move. So even if that first move is close in price it’s the second contract off of the European one that will lead to a larger sum.
I'll assume that you're correct that he would have had to sign with SKC. While your point is very valid, SKC is one of the best places in MLS he could have landed.
As with all things, just matters where you live. Do you live in London or Zaragoza... do you live in San Francisco or Indianapolis?
Gas prices are the big diff. Anywhere in Europe you'll be paying over twice the price anywhere in the USA, and that translates to the cost of doing anything, and the transport cost of anything you buy. https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/
Southern Europe and Eastern Europe always seems relatively cheap compared to the rest. Bremen's probably not London or Paris but if I had to guess it's not Berlin or Prague. I'd go mid-tier. If someone has personal info about it then just know that's the reason I come to YA, not for the players.
Gas prices only matter in relation to how far you drive, fly your helicopter, etc. To quote a famous musician "Stamps? Hell, I'll buy the goddamn stamps..." Here are some "aktual" COLs in various big cities, fwiw... (TBH they have so much variation after the top cities, I wouldn't take any of them to heart.) (In general, within most countries: US, Canada, Britain and Europe - except Switzerland - there are some cities that are really expensive and some where a player can get pretty good buck and bang for their bucks at the same time.) https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/index https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp https://www.mercer.com/newsroom/mer...e-locations-for-employees-working-abroad.html
There's another factor, beyond cost of living (and IME Europe is more expensive, unless you live in LA or Seattle, and probably NYC & DC, although I've never lived in the last two): taxes. When you're an expat, if you make over a certain mark (around 100K, and most footballers hit that mark), you have to pay tax in the USA and in the country where you live.
True, but there are agreements in place with most European countries, like Germany, where you get the foreign tax paid credited towards the US taxes. It is a mess and you definitely need to hire a tax accountant firm. Funny thing in Germany: the gasoline is very expensive in part because of the heavy tax of about $0.55 per liter, or about $2 a gallon of gas tax! Then, they tack on the 19% sales tax on top of the base price plus gas tax. So, yes, they actually tax the tax.
You get robbed. We have a London office and our US citizen partners working there get robbed on taxes.
The US is one of the only countries (with like, Ethiopia or something) that taxes citizens on world wide income (of course, the US does not tax corporation on world wide income... that would be too... uh... un-American) and often, if you are not a citizen of the country you live in, it can be difficult to use incorporation, or other tax abatement strategies. But generally, with a tax treaty, you end paying the top rate in the higher tax country + a US premium of a few % because you don't get full credit for tax paid. The place you (read me) gets really destroyed is when you are "deemed" a US resident by a state, and also pay local/provincial/state taxes in another country where you are deemed a resident. There is no tax treaty that addresses that. You just pay the bill and cry.
Okay, death and taxes are certain, but they don't have to be certain in the Josh Sargent thread unless Josh brings them up. Let's bend this back to On Topic Land, please.