Villareal just about offloaded him for peanuts to Atletico Madrid, but the deal feel through. That's what they are saying on the Boca boards anyway. Apparently he was available for 10 million Euros in transfer fee and a 3 million Euro per year salary. Seriously, how can MLS have failed to seize this opportunity, which has been more or less on the boil ALL YEAR LONG. Riquelme should be on his way to, say, Houston, or maybe DC, RIGHT NOW. Or MLS should have made a deal to reserve him as the Quakes DP with a loan move back to Boca in the interim. The people, at whatever levels, in the league office or the club offices, who failed to make something like this happen need to be identified and fired. Why should the Galaxy be the only organization in MLS that can pull off a blockbuster deal on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? It's absolutely shameful. Fans of other teams (and even of the Galaxy) who criticize Lalas should shut their traps because he did his part to get an epic deal done, and every other MLS FO blew it big time when they had the chance at an iconic, and frankly far superior, player (and from Latin America to boot!) for far less money on a silver platter. Less than $20 million for three years of Juan Roman! How dumb do you have to be to pass on that!
Ever heard of a guy named Blanco? Trust me, if Riquelme wanted to play for DC United, he'd be playing for DC United already. It's not the end of the world. 2008's gonna be a crazy season regardless, other teams will make more big-name signings, and the league's going to have an even crazier and better year next year than in 2007 for sure, so be cool
Good point, gotta give props to the Fire on that one. Dallas with Denilson, jury's out but at least a bold move. RSL whiffed on Jay-Jay. OK, that leaves plenty of other clubs sitting on their fat asses.
...and winning. Right now, there are three teams that have used a DP spot (excluding Denilson because he hasn't played yet.) RBNY, Fire, and Galaxy. How many of them are current in the top 8? One. The other two are working their way up. Meanwhile, teams like Dynamo, Revolution, Chivas USA, Wizards, etc. are all contenders without breaking the DP bank. It's a good thing those teams aren't signing some DP because they might sell tickets. They all have their team's cores established. If anyone gets a DP, it's just a bonus and not something to depend on.
LOL. Riquelme won't sell a lot of tickets. Only hardcore soccer fans know of him. $15 mil in transfer fee and $4.5 mil a year in salary? No MLS team is going to breakeven on the deal. Also, does Riquelme want to play in MLS? Riquelme will cost about $33 million in salary and transfer fee. He will bring in at most 2,000 in extra attendance per game. MLS will lose at least $23 million on the deal. If he can go on a free transfer with $2 million a year in salary. Then maybe.
No offense, but you're ridiculously clueless about MLS economics. A transfer fee that large would have not just broken MLS' record, it would have buried the pieces under 10 feet of concrete. He'd cost MORE than Beckham for FEWER years. And it goes without saying that he'd bring in a fraction of the extra revenue Beckham brings in. Why not ask why Anderlecht didn't bring him in? They have a bigger budget than an MLS club. Why? Because suggesting Anderlecht sign Riquelme is ridiculous on its face. As is the notion of MLS paying an 8 figure transfer fee for a player.
Riquelme seems to refuse playing anywhere but Boca and Villareal at this point. He would probably have been the best player signed to MLS yet, though. Why don't you get Zidane? I read he regrets retiring.
i am just spit balling here but maybe he didnt want to come to MLS? or no one wanted to play him that much??
Let's never do anything new. Let's never rock the boat. Let's never take any risks. That way even if we fail, we can say we did it by the book. Great attitude, that's how to build a winner! It is amazing how many people around here don't understand the first thing about business and, in particular, marketing. These are all the same people who griped on and on about the "idiocy" of signing Beckham, the "purists" who discount anything except building from the grassroots with gritty discount players because of their pathological fear of the NASL bogeyman coming to snatch away their team with his evil wand of bankruptcy in the middle of the night. Pathetic! Concepts like brand equity and synergy and tipping point have never flitted through these puny, anxiety-ridded minds, you can be sure of that. MLS is a single-entity organization whose backers include some fat bankrollers and which has access to deep-pocketed sponsors. It could easily have afforded Riquelme, and there is no doubt the long term returns to the league would have been positive. Riquelme would have unlocked the one part of the world market where Brand Beckham has the least impact, Latin America. I don't mean just Mexico, Blanco is great for that but he doesn't have the hemisphere-wide stature of Riquelme. Plus Riquelme, unlike Beckham, can move the needle even for the Eurosnobs, given his recent Champion's League and World Cup exploits.
JR would have been a great pick up for us in Houston. In our market he would have sold a chingon of tickets to the exact type of footy die hard that MLS is know wanting to pull in. The best part of the deal is the likelyhood that those same folks would dig the atmosphere and take the step up in supporting the team and not just the one off Argie. I still think he was the type of #10 that wanted to be in a club that fit his last name...and that wasn't in MLS in his mind.
Beckham was new, risky, and at this juncture, you'd have to say smart, too. Riquelme would be new, risky, and stupid.
Are you there God? It's me... carlos. I failed to bring Riquelme to MLS. I was on the phone w/ his agent and I asked him what would Riquelme do as a gesture to make up for the mass extermination of indigenous ppl in Argentina. I called out Argentina for being blatantly racist, sexist, classist and everything else under the sun. I finished off w/, "Do you know who you're talking to? Don't make me get ethnic!" At that point, the negotiations fell apart and Riquelme was no longer interested in MLS. So I plead for BS' forgiveness. MLS' forgiveness. For I have sinned. I failed to bring Riquelme to MLS.
carlos, we have enough problems on this board with the mass extermination of indigenous ppl in the US. Why did you have to bring up theTierra del Fuegans?
I sense a threadjacking plot unfolding here. If you think what I said was so stupid the thread should be binned, then say so, but let's please not launch some random and incomprehensible political flamewar to achieve it. If Riquelme goes to Boca on this flexible loan deal people are now talking about, San Jose could still have a shot at him in the January transfer window. The timing would be even better and Villareal is probably only going to get more desperate. Especially if they aren't doing well and need to free up the cash tied up in JRR for acquisitions. (Let's root against Villareal now!) So maybe we can hope that MLS' sluggishness to realize this epoch-making opportunity will somehow work out favorably, provided that the trigger is pulled in the end.
All I know is that JRR would of been a stud in DC. He's the kind of player that would dazzle the 20K we already pull in attendance. In addition to that he would pull loads of hispanic newbies to the stadium. Say what you will, but Riquelme is that rare type of player that transcends ethnic divisions. He ccould pull more Salvadorans, Hondurans and Guatemalans into the stadium than most other Latin players from around the world. IMO, he's worth $5 million per year to the league, as long as it's a free transfer.
I see what you're saying (that ultimately it's not a significant #), but it would be yet another signing that would make a certain % of ppl who are on the fence to give the league a try. And it would inch even more Eurosnobs/Latin-snobs closer to the fence so that the next big signing would push 'em over the fence.
Don't be ridiculous. There are MANY reasons that Riquelme isn't in MLS. One of the main reasons probably being that he wasn't keen on making the move (YET). Also, there are MANY reasons that MLS clubs wouldn't want him, none footballing, all financial. Don't you think that they have a better understanding of finances and sports economics than yourself, not meaning to sound rude. Also, there will be hundreds of players and hundreds of opportunities to bring in quality players over the years. Soccer isn't going anywhere in the US and the teams can afford to pass on players. Be patient, and there's more than one Riquelme quality player in the world now and in the future.