As I'm sure has been mentioned, Morris is in a weird spot. He's worth more to Seattle from both a performance and marketing perspective, than he is on the world market. He also makes a lot, by MLS standards (620 in 2019, which I'm sure has gone up a little this year), that few clubs in Europe, especially after Covid, can top. He's good, but he's not elite. And he's young but he's not prospect young. So, most of the clubs that can afford both his salary and transfer fee are the type of big clubs that A) can do better or B) only make an investment like that on a younger player they can flip for a ROI. So that leaves a weird and limited market. I have no doubt JoMo could go into almost any team outside the Big 5 and regularly make the 18, if not start. And I think he could do the same for most of the clubs in the lower halves of the Big 5. Unfortunately, most of those clubs can't afford a player like Morris when there's minimal chance of a sell-on. So... if a promotion candidate team in the Championship is willing to take him on loan and will buy him if they move up, that's about as optimal situation as a 26-year old American in MLS making over 600K and still under contract for 3 years can really hope for. Sure, a bottom-feeder top-tier team like Schalke could do the same, and it might. But until they make that offer, a swan in the hand...
Jordan Morris would fall under the "auto pass" category for a GBE via playing in enough competitive int'l matches over a two-year window.— Daniel (@DanielSmith1022) January 15, 2021
Is he a lock on starter or squad player for those German clubs? If it's the latter I can see why he'd prefer Swansea. It's a loan, an opportunity to prove he's good enough for that level, and that can't happen if he's on the bench more games than not. That's the only real reason I can come up with other than language, why he'd prefer Swans to the others.
He might just prefer a short loan instead of sale and Swansea need a forward badly enough to give him that option.
He has 9 goals and 7 assists in 20 matches this season between the BL and Europa League. He’s a $30+ million player.
Morris’s age doesn’t seem like Leverkusen’s m.o. either. Maybe they just see a loan to finish out the season and provide some depth since Paulinho has been out with an ACL. They’ll also at times play ‘03 wunderkid Florian Wirtz out wide.
Nah, it's just Morris is an MLS champ and very productive player. On top that, his athleticism is world class with solid enough skill and technique to push for more.
Oh, nvm, the speak english in the UK for a guy like Morris that did not want to leave Seattle that probably is super important. Swansea it is.
I understand prioritizing minutes over prestige or $. I think it happens more than most fans want to admit. I hope he goes to the best place where he will play.
Why do people keep acting like Morris can only play 1 spot, and it's not even the one he came up as + still considers his best position (striker)? If he'd be backup to Bailey, at worst he'd backup all front 3 positions, on a top 5 league championship contender, europa league participant, & likely ucl club next year. That's enough for Weah to be receiving praise right now & warrant a starting spot w/ the USMNT. So it still wouldn't be an unfavorable situation.
What at Wolverhampton? Last I checked - they were going through an injury crisis up. There’s always the issue then of what about when those players come back though...
Literally almost no one thought this. I don’t know that I could find even one person, certainly not someone who writes about the sport for a living, even on this blog who hyped a 60M potential transfer fee.
For Bailey? They sure did. Chelsea fans were clamoring for Abramovich to buy him a few years back. I'm not sure you're talking about Bailey, though.
Yeah, Swansea is no Leverkusen, but I think Jordan needs two things: 1) To feel a bit like a big fish in a small pond 2) To feel comfortable culturally At Leverkusen, he's a no one rotational player. That'll be crushing for him, and I don't think it would be particularly useful for his confidence. He also would much rather live in an English-speaking place. Leverkusen is the better team, and for any prospect coming up I'd rather they play for Leverkusen, but I'm not sure how much I care about him playing most weeks for Swansea vs some weeks for Leverkusen. The championship is still a highly competitive league and plenty of good teams and managers reside there. He also won't be bunkering every week in the EPL, which is nice. I really don't hate the move. I'd watch him a bunch in the Championship, and I think he'd develop about as much on Swansea as he would on Leverkusen.