How many minutes in the first team counts as close? Also plenty of Benfica backups and B team players get sold for more.
It's a decent number, but I doubt he'll go back to Europe eventually. He has no Euro passport, so the only way would be to go through Cyprus & get one of those Golden Passports, like other players do. But the process is expensive, involved, and it marks you as the type willing to deal with shady people.
It happened: Ronny Deila Named #NYCFC Head Coach 🗽 📰➡️ https://t.co/8GTCH0GC0N pic.twitter.com/BQEhixdiWh— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) January 6, 2020
It makes things easier when you have that passport. And the league that likes Yanks the most, the one where our guys go when no one else seems to want them, The Championship, has strict passport requirements. Supposedly Villa was inquiring about Parks passport status back in 2018: https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/08/...a-want-benficas-american-starlet-keaton-park/ You have to keep in mind that in many of the leagues with less strict requirements, American players are not seen as an option. The only ones are Germany and Belgium, but having only two leagues open for you is very limiting.
I know. But to say that you doubt he'll go back to Europe because he doesn't have an EU passport (which is what you said) is crazy given that Parks already went to Europe without an EU passport.
But he was already there and once they knew he had no passport, zero interest. Thus, I estimate his chances of returning there are very low.
Actually, finances were likely to be the biggest obstacle this time around and going forward. For two reasons: 1) Benfica wanted a transfer fee, which ruled a fair few destinations out, either due to lack of money or they had the money but weren't willing to spend it on a guy who's still stuck in the pack at Benfica B. 2) MLS pays relatively decent wages these days, and it pays on time. That's not guaranteed, even in La Liga. If Parks had wanted to hold out for higher than NYC was offering, then it's the Championship, Eredivisie, top half in Belgium, top 3-4 in Scandinavia, etc. That's a lot of clubs, but also a lot of clubs with a lot of other options.
Some players have broader perspectives, both on the field and off. Parks has already shown he's not the homesick type. He's still young enough to where, with some success, he could choose to test his mettle in international waters.
https://www.nycfc.com/post/2020/01/08/new-york-city-fc-permanently-acquires-keaton-parks-sl-benfica officially official
I'm not a fan of playing on a baseball diamond for longer term soccer development but that's just me.
If the rumor going around the Portuguese media is true and Benfica retain 50% of any future sale of Keaton, then presumably they sold him to NYCFC on the cheap and are betting he makes a big money move back to Europe in the near future. I would guess Benfica wanted around $2-4m for him and wound up selling him for $1m + 50% of his next sale. Given what he's said in the past about wanting to succeed in Europe, I bet Keaton feels the same way. The question is: will NYCFC let him make that move knowing they only get 50% of the proceeds...
I know, right? We need the server space argue about how good Christian Pulisic really is and/or speculate wildly about the nature of Tyler Adam's injuries.