Parks and recreation in Lisbon: Keaton at NYCFC (on loan from Benfica)

Maybe not. He said he liked the club and the fans. It was the President that was the problem. In these circumstances the emotions are mixed; the player doesn't want to upset the fans and former team mates but he sorely wants to make the suits puke.

 

I don't know if this game was televised. Might not get one.

 

Highlights. You could tell that goal means a bit extra to him.

 

That was a nice header! Can’t believe no one even tried to mark him.

 

Great point. Ive noticed that too.

 

It looked like he was holding his hands up in apology... still a great header: really good recognition of open space and his lack of a mark.

 

⚽️ Benfica B faz o empate (1-1)

— Varzim Sport Club (@VSC1915) February 4, 2018

LOL, Varzim refused to name him as the goal-scorer on twitter. They did name the other two Benfica players...

 

The game wasn't televised so not as much activity in the benfica forums but here's a report from a poster who attended and did a run down of individual performances - "Keaton Parks: Another level. He filled the field. In a hostile environment and with much insult, it seemed to be playing with kids, scoring a beautiful goal and playing and always playing with an amazing class. It's almost done."

I wouldn't of minded seeing him loaned to a mid table first division team though Benfica are doing a good job of keeping him sharp

 

Lol so petty shame the club couldn't match his class.

 

i thought it was more like an ironic "i'm not guilty"....since it was his old club and he scored against them....like "sorry not sorry"...but maybe also some mixture of respect for his old teammates....

 

I like this quote "[he] is playing as always with amazing class.

 

Can't imagine how vindicated he must feel.

Gets benched and stiffed financially at his old club because their front office tries to pull some under the table BS, takes them to court over it, wins, gets snatched up immediately by a much bigger club, starts killing it there- and then scores against the club that wronged him a few months later.

I don't think I'd be able to hide my smirk for the rest of the match

 

To me it looked more like putting his hands up in a "I am the greatest" or Rocky statue pose.

 

The stuff I'm seeing week in and week out from Keaton seems really translatable to the next level. In particular - let me take a deep breath now - the technical aspects. I haven't really been able to say that about any American besides Pulisic. Even Zelalem needed more end product technically.

 

Unfortunately Gonzalez. Fortunately Taitague.

 

Can someone give me a rundown of his hisory with Varzim?

 

Not going to lie, I don't think I fully understand it, but the basic jist is that, after a very good season with Varzim's u18 and then Varzim's B team, he made a sizeable splash with their senior team the following season in the 2nd division, which drew many suitors (rumor was that a couple teams outside of Portugal were scouting him, Monaco and maybe Leicester). Varzim wanted to get the most money for him, which came from the Portuguese 1st division side Portimonense... however, his sale was a package deal with another Varzim player. The Varzim president had promised Portimonense that Keaton and Costa would sign for a hefty fee, and Portimonense wanted both players, not one or the other.

According to Varzim, Benfica approached Keaton before approaching Varzim and told him not to sign. According to Keaton's agent, Keaton had received offers from multiple clubs including Benfica and hadn't made a decision when Varzim announced he was being sold to Portimonense. Either way, Keaton did not sign with Portimonense, which caused the deal for Varzim's other player to fall through. Varzim's president got pissy and banned Keaton from playing (and supposedly later banned from the club grounds), which caused Keaton to miss the entire 2nd half of the 16/17 season. Around February of that 2017, Keaton sued Varzim, arguing that his banishment from the club grounds meant he couldn't train, which was in violation of his contract. His suit went through a few rounds of appeals, and wasn't settled until the end of July, at which point he immediately signed for Benfica... Varzim, meanwhile, got nothing but a sour taste in their mouth.

 

They also withheld wages that they owed him iirc.

 

The only thing I would add is that Benfica offered more money than Portimonense but Varzim chose Portimonense because of the additional player deal.

 

jeebus, nice little soap opera there.

 

Which they would have been obliged to pay him, with interest, as a result of Parks' suit succeeding

 

Here's the original reference to Keaton's 45M buyout clause. Came from a twitter report from someone who covers Portuguese football.

Official: Only four months after joining Benfica on a 4-year deal from Varzim, American B team midfielder Keaton Parks has got his contract renewed to 2022. Benfica have reportedly slapped a €40m release clause on the 20-year-old, who got his first team debut last month. pic.twitter.com/N011L0rHfJ

— Jan Freðrik Hagen (@JanFHagen) December 7, 2017

 

https://www.slbenfica.pt/en-us/agor...-de-preparacao-para-o-jogo-com-o-portimonense

Small story on Benfica's website about 6 B-team players training with the first squad ahead of this weekend's match. Keaton was, of course, one of the 6. It'll be interesting to see if any of them crack the 18...

If Keaton is selected he'll have the chance to continue his revenge tour, as Benfica will play at Portimonense on Saturday.

 

Frankly, the only way to make Yanks Abroad readable is to put 90% of the regular posters on ignore. It makes it nearly impossible to follow threads, though, so in general I just post without trying to follow anything before and without caring to read anything after. It works fine for me.

Benfica has called Parks along with other five Benfica B players to train for the game at Portimonense on Saturday. It won't be easy, the Algarvenses have a decent record at home and come from two wins, sitting in the middle of the table:

http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/trein...ria-chama-seis-bes-para-preparar-portimonense