YNT-eligible MLS players: 2019/2020 Offseason thread

According to his club coach at Atletico Nacional, Juan Carlos Osorio, dual citizen Andres Perea ('00 midfielder) has interest from a MLS club. Perea appeared for Colombia at the U-20 World Cup this summer. He has played 683 minutes in the Primera A to date in 2019 (11 games, 8 starts, 1 goal).

Cross posting from the Youth Yanks Abroad thread.

 

didn’t he just sign a deal with dcu? guess maybe a buy and loan until he’s 18 but that sounds $$$

 

I do think a lot of these contracts MLS clubs are signing with youngsters are simply to ensure that they get paid when the kids move abroad at 18. A lot that FCD has done over the past several years has been a reaction to losing Weston McKennie for nothing. Just as an example.

So yes, I think we're going to see a lot of examples of kids signing MLS deals...………….and then being sold shortly thereafter at 18.

You can train at an academy for free for years until you're 18, and then sign abroad. Or you can be paid to play for the same team until you're sold at 18. If MLS clubs continue to show that they'll sell these kids when good bids come in...…………..that latter path is going to be increasingly attractive. And over the long run that'll continue putting a gap between the MLS academies and the non-professional academies. Cuz these homegrown contracts aren't for minimum wage any more. Ricardo Pepi is 16 and makes $113k per year. Do any American baseball, football, or basketball players make that kind of money as 16 year olds?

 

Clubs are trying to pressure players into signing forms that allow them to get training compensation even if they don't sign. You can thank guys like Weston McKennie, Emerson Hyndman, Alex Mendez, Uly Llanez, Taylor Booth, Sebastian Soto, and Richie Ledezma for this.

 

Buzz' current FCD roster dance for those that are interested.
Of note, he's already assumed a senior contract extention for Ferreira this off-season.
He probably knows something we don't.

Even with that, the 10 developmental roster spots are currently full (Cannon, Nelson, Pepi, Twumasi, Atuahene, Cerrillo, Roberts, Servania, Sealy, Reynolds). So action needs to happen amongst those 10 for more homegrown contracts to be signed. [Senior contracts, transfers, loans, etc.] So those dominoes presumably need to fall, and then we'll hear about new youngsters.

#FCDallas Roster Dance is updated as I see it. #NTXSC included. https://t.co/JiTUdjmHID

— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) November 27, 2019

 

Something happened with the link within the twitter post, but some good insight.

Although where did you find this limit of homegrown contracts? I’m assuming no team has reached this # of 10 which is why I’m having trouble finding anything on it.

I’d have to imagine Cannon gets sold over the winter. FCD wouldn’t want to risk a top prospect leaving for free because they waited to open a spot.

 

Keep in the mind the new CBA is coming before next season. I'm sure there will be some changes regarding homegrowns and player development. This should include the homegrown player cap and homegrown territories.

 

🎙️New pod!@MattDoyle76 joins to wrap up the year in MLS for young Americans, having been liberated by Scuffed from the constraints of "brevity" and "producers" and "@andrew_wiebe." https://t.co/jKgZPrsCHy

— scuffed (@scuffedpod) November 27, 2019

1199820086934159361 is not a valid tweet id

Thomas Roberts Training at FC Augsburg https://t.co/xXuYQtpAiZ

— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) November 27, 2019

Interesting podcast from FC Dallas insider Buzz Carrick re 2 #USMNT players. States that Paxton Pomykal, with 1 cap, might not be a starter at the start of this coming season, and that Bryan Reynolds might have more upside than USMNT-regular Reggie "The Full Effect" Cannon. https://t.co/ETH4WL2Hfo

— Joseph McGregor (@josephmcgregor) November 25, 2019

 

Reynolds has "upside." He's big, very fast, and was a skilled striker/winger, so he's a very good dribbler for a RB. The problem is that his soccer IQ is low, and therefore it's not hard to see why as a recent convert to RB, he has poor defensive awareness, and doesn't have the fundamentals of the fullback position down well.

Cannon is a near certainty to be a much better footballer. If Reynolds maximizes his ceiling, it's probably higher than Cannon's. Reynolds is the type of player that is very unlikely to maximize his ceiling, so I'd say that type of statement is mostly empty because while likely true, it's incredibly unlikely.

 

As Doyle and @zlebmada said on their pod (which I highly recommend) I really, really doubt FC Dallas just dropped $700k/year on Paxton to sit him. He's clearly their best central mid anyway, but I can't imagine what the logic would be there.

 

Yup. I don't doubt for a second that Pax will be a starter.
HOWEVER, he has to demonstrate that he can stay healthy.

What logic can we find? If they decide to play Ferreira as a #10. Then you can argue that the central midfield trio would be Ferreira, Servania, and Acosta.

Why would you do that? Because you want to start Cobra as the #9 in a 4-2-3-1. That guy scored for FCD down the stretch and has been scoring for the Czech Republic.

I just don't buy it...………………...

As far as Reynolds goes, he definitely has upside. We'll see how it goes for him this season. He's been around sooooooooooooooooooooo long that we forget that he's only 18. I mean, he's basically the same age as Tanner Tessman, who we talk about as a young up-and-coming newbie. I don't expect him to start this year even if Reggie leaves. I think the fullbacks would be Hollingshead and Nelson with Reynolds moving up the ladder to a squad rotation player.

Fullback is also a position where I expect homegrown signings. Bonilla, Munjoma, Gomez? We'll see. Almaguer can play there, and he's under NTSC contract.

 

Doyle and @zlebmada is the best in American soccer journalism by wide margin.

 

Agreed. Doyle gets flack for being an MLS shill, which is something I don’t agree with. He’s long criticized MLS teams for not playing domestic youth.

 

Even in that hypothetical 4231 with Ferreira, Servania, and Acosta in the middle and Cobra up top, Pomykal should be ahead of Barrios and/or Picault on the wing.

 

Pomykal isn't ahead of Barrios, who's arguably been the most impactful FCD player for years on end. Pretty quietly so.

Kwestion? Where did Michael Barrios finish in the league in terms of assists last season? The answer is 3rd, tied with Carlos Vela.

Pomykal is a central midfielder. He'll play in central midfield. As of right now, Paxton is the highest paid player on the team (tied with Acosta). He's starting in central midfield, and you fit the other pieces around him. Just opinion. If that means sitting Servania, then Servania sits. If that means moving Ferreira out, then you move Ferreira out. But they just paid Pomykal like they want him to be the face of the franchise for a while. So he's going in the position where he can have the most impact. For him that's the "free 8" role he did so well in the first half of last season (before the injuries hit).

 

I fully agree that Paxton should be in the middle of the field. That theoretical was based on your scenario where a Ferreira, Servania, Acosta midfield was preferred. That said, I would argue until the cows come home that Pomykal is a better player on the wing than Barrios, assist stats be damned. Paxton would add slightly more defensively and would add tons more in possession. He played more than a handful of minutes there as he was coming back from/dealing with injury and produced danger constantly from the wing. I don't think it's stretching it at all to argue that Pomykal would have had at least as many assists as Barrios did last year if he had gotten his minutes on wing for some reason.

Ultimately, my point was not really about Barrios vs. Pomykal. It was more so to emphasize how versatile Pomykal really is. It would be REALLY hard to keep him off the field for FCD is he is healthy, even if his salary didn't get a serious hike. I'm not sure what Buzz's suggestion was based on, but it seems like a thoroughly unlikely hot take.

 

If Pomykal can stay healthy I see him making a bigger impact this next season. He’s far too talented not to if he can also be a bit more consistent.

 

College Homegrown prospects: Who might MLS teams sign from NCAA game?
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...share_button&utm_campaign=social_share_button

10. Brian Saramago – CF – Loyola-Maryland NYRB
9. Brandon Williamson – CM – Duke DCU
8. Eddie Munjoma – RB – Southern Methodist FCD
7. Drake Callender – GK – California Inter Miami (HG rights traded from SJ)
6. Milan Iloski – F/W – UCLA RSL
5. Jesus Perez – CM – Illinois-Chicago Chicago
4. Blake Bodily – W/AM – Washington Portland
3. Aidan Morris – CM – Indiana Crew
2. David Loera – CAM – North Carolina State Orlando
1. Mauricio Pineda – CB/DM – North Carolina Chicago

Other names to know
F Liam Butts (Penn State/Atlanta United), CB Brandon Terwege (SMU/FC Dallas), F Grayson Barber (Clemson/Sporting KC), F Victor Bezerra (Indiana/Chicago Fire), CM Dante Polvara (Georgetown/New York City FC), CM Isaiah Parente (Wake Forest/Crew SC), CM Sean Zawadski (Georgetown/Crew SC)

 

Djordje Mihailovic started training with 1. FC Nurnberg on November 19th. The club reportedly wishes to purchase him.

 

Sebastian “Bofo” Saucedo is being traded from Real Salt Lake to Nashville SC. #NashvilleSC #RSL pic.twitter.com/NzJva1l3lB

— MLS Moves (@MLSMoves) November 30, 2019

 

great change of scenery for him. he looked pretty interesting in that u23 fiasco

 

I'm skeptical this report is real, or at least it's in the right context. Saucedo is out of contract. So what rights would RSL be transferring to Nashville? Allocation rights if he'd return to MLS later or stays now? I'm inclined to think he ends up in Liga MX, otherwise a 2nd tier league in Europe. He'll at least test the waters. Why wouldn't or couldn't he?

 

MLS gonna MLS. I believe some relatively negligible amount of allocation money is the norm, still such a stupid thing though.

 

Mauricio Pineda has been a top five priority HG signing since his freshman year. As a Chicago Fire fan I really hate how incompetent my team is. Both him, Cam Lindley,and Andrew Gutman should have been signed in 2015 after they won the DA championship beating the unbelievably talented RSL team with Sebastian Saucedo, Justen Glad, Aaron Hererra, Danilo Acosta, and Erik Holt.

 

Solving for Bofo + Bogo = Boffo?