Sounds like he’s going back to Bayern in the winter. Through what mechanism, I don’t know. Justin Che back to #Bayern? Details for @Transfermarkt https://t.co/F0Zp5Xgl1k— Manuel Veth (@ManuelVeth) August 31, 2021
The word I received is that there is a likely January move. IT makes sense for both clubs and Che. Any deal is unlikely before the window closes tonight so there is no hurry.
Then would he immediately go out on loan to 2 BL/low 1 BL, or play sparingly for Bayern's 1st team? Can't see any utility playing in Regionaliga.
Update: According to sources at Dallas, Bayern have not made a sufficient offer for Che. Last August, Dallas demanded just under €2m for the player. He's unlikely to cost much more now. Another problem is the perspective - Che is too good for the second team & Regionalliga [@kerry_hau]— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) January 10, 2022
Nonsense that another season in MLS doesn’t make sense for him. If he was too good for MLS right now, the offers would be better than 2 million, and there wouldn’t be any concern about him going to the regionaliga. If he’s as good as he seems to think he is, he should tear up MLS this year, and be able to become an instant contributor some place like Salzburg or one of the bigger Belgian clubs by the end of the year.
Agreed. After 2018, another season with RBNY did not make sense for Tyler Adams. He was one of the best midfielders in the league. You can say the same for Brenden Aaronson who won a Supporters Shield in 2020 and was an MLS Best XI. Same with Mark McKenzie. James Sands won MLS Cup and the Gold Cup in 2021. OK, he wants something else even if Scotland is not close to Europe's top leagues. But doing something else after winning it all makes sense. Justin Che showed some promise in 2021 but was wildly inconsistent. He clearly hasn't outgrown the league. If he moves to a top Euro league, he's gonna be looking for a loan. Once that happens, all bets are off and it takes luck to succeed. Sometimes you just can't turn down the money. Reynolds probably wasn't ready after being an FC Dallas starter for 2.5 months, but Roma paid a sum that you just couldn't turn down. Selling an unproven player and inexperienced player like Che for a small amount seems counter productive to his development. He's gonna play at Dallas and Dallas is heavily invested in his development (unlike a team he would go on loan to). If Che goes to Bayern for a small amount and then Bayern has to look for a 2.BL team to take him on loan, that seems like a dangerous road not in anyone's best interest. Some players seem ready to make a move and pushing for a transfer makes sense. I am not sure the metric you can use that makes Che like the other players I mentioned.
He should cost significantly more, since he played in MLS at 17-18, & looked fine already. The market rate for those players right now is around 5 million. So he should have a suitor somewhere in Europe, other than Bayern, who is cheaping out. Otherwise if he stays in MLS one more year, and grows even, that # could reach close to 10 million. Especially if he hangs around the senior NT. He does have the dual national and youth hype cards to leverage opportunities. Hopefully if he's back in Dallas, it's at CB, otherwise I could see real impetus to move now. His camp seems like they're eager for him to go regardless.
In particular, if his heart is set on Bayern, then from a rational (not emotional) standpoint, it really doesn't make sense. Because he's not walking into playing time at Bayern if Bayern isn't willing to pay $2M. Davies took half a year or a year, and they paid a minimum of $11M or something for him (before incentives). He'd be playing low level, trying to play his way into a lineup. Is that a faster route to where you want to go than staying? I dunno, but it doesn't seem like Bayern is all that sold on Che ... to the level that you'd want a team to be sold on you when they can go out and buy a solution to every problem.
As I added to my post above. If he goes to Bayern, he gonna get loaned and there is a good chance it is in the 2.BL or something else lower than a top 5 league. Then, there is a chance he might not play because the club taking him on loan isn't invested in him. He'll play at Dallas. Dallas has incentive to develop him. That beats most of his loan alternatives anyway. If Bayern is only going to pay a small amount for him, what is the point? I don't see it why this would make sense for Che or for Dallas. Maybe it does for Bayern because they get a player who is a cheap flyer - but again, that's not good for the player to go where he's not really wanted.
He’s not worth much now because he’s much more prospect than player. Even Reynolds, who showed A LOT more in Dallas, was a high ceiling/low floor type of signing for Roma. Che wasn’t even a lock starter for a below average Dallas team. He’s hanging around the senior team because he’s a good prospect and our older depth players are not very good. He could leverage his way into being sold to Bayern for cheap, but they’re not going to play a guy who is basically a decent academy prospect for their senior team just because of his nationality. and I want to emphasize that I like him a lot as a prospect. But, like McKenzie, Busio, Aaronson, and Pepi, he needs to establish himself as a senior player, then go somewhere that is looking for him to be an immediate contributor. At 18-22, consistent first team minutes and a stable club situation are so important. MLS is not a great league, but it’s quickly proving that guys who play well at a young age can go over to clubs as big as Salzburg, Genk, and even Leipzig and do well right off the bat. But guys have to play well in MLS first, which Che hasn’t done consistently yet. perhaps he could even be ready by the summer. He just clearly isn’t right now.
This is a mischaracterization of his career and stint in Dallas. He was decent in the metrics for FCD. Posted the same # as Hedges. He's not a prospect. He was inconsistent, but I was frequently very impressed w/ him. Numerous times he was among the best players on the field. And this was in spite of Che playing moderately out of position. This was after a solid performance for Bayern's reserves, who didn't play at an overly low level either. It was in the 3 Liga, against full pros. And Che was the youngest player on his team, in spite of playing an older position. On this basis, he's already proven as a pro at a reasonable level, w/ great potential between his trajectory based on age, his position, and the fact he could look even better just by switching back. That warrants a considerable transfer fee. Bayern's is a considerable low ball & wrongfully not adjusted after he proved a lot more in Dallas. Their offer isn't reflective of Che. They're complaining about being cash-strapped during the pandemic and having to be careful about spending, while the billionaire-owned clubs run wild, especially ones possessed by oiligarchs and/or Americans who've bilked the public during the pandemic. So I guess the solution for FCD & Che would be for them to have him go to one of them instead, if they're motivated to make a deal now.
Sorry man, but he performed nowhere near as good as guys like Busio, Aaronson, or McKenzie in their final years. He had some good plays and good games, but he had plenty of flaws too. On the whole, he was a decent starter, not a standout. And I’m not saying that to hate on the guy. That’s a great accomplishment for an 18 year old. If those guys are going for 5-8 million, there’s no reason to think Che should be in that range too. He’s got promise, but it’s not like he’s a really elite athlete for his position like Davies or Reynolds. he’s not very tall for a center back, and although he showed good passing and attacking ability, he looked like a center back at right back in terms of how he moved. I like him, I just think that right now he’s definitely a 2-3 million dollar player. If he goes anywhere in the Bundesliga, it would be as a prospect. A decent Belgian team might give him a decent opportunity in the first team, but I don’t know why he would go for that when he’s possibly a breakout year away from being an 8-12 million dollar player who goes right into a club like Hoffenheim, a la Richards.
I said "oil"igarchs. Gulf state oil barons are primarily who I was referring to when I said that, not Russians (though many seemed Do you think oligarchs are exclusive to Russia? You're in an oligarchy, that's heavily influenced by Gulf State oligarchs, Western European ones, & our own. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746 "The US, in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious 'electoral' 'democratic' countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now." At no point has that been made more obvious than during the pandemic, when US billionaires grew their wealth by over 2 trillion, thru a combo of public policy and private, while most co's in America were like Euro fb clubs, or the typical individual in the public a small-scale version. So if teams and players want to yield transfer fees, it would be a good start to look to teams with owners who had obscene wealth already thru other avenues, or used the pandemic to bilk the public, especially in places like the U.S.
You're defending a 2-3 million dollar offer. There's a large gap between that and the names you mentioned, who all got over 5 million, as I suggested for him. And he's on a better trajectory than all of them. At 17-18, like he was this season, only Busio was close to his accomplishments & performance, in spite of them not playing out of position, while Che's main one is where players mature older. He's a better athlete than all of them in the first paragraph too. And Reynolds was a couple years older + a flash in the pan at this point. Che's trajectory is natural. 2-3 million is stiffing Dallas. And Bayern admitted they can't justify splurging right now. That's the logical explanation for the lowball. So Dallas could go elsewhere if they want double, or keep him & realistically get quadruple in a year, more than any of those Americans got, from repeating and building upon success.
I think you are underrating his athleticism. Otherwise, I more or less agree. If he goes for more, it's largely because of that. If you think he can play CB -- and I think he'd be an especially great RCB in a back three -- then he's very high potential. If you think you have to move him to RB, then he's less impressive, as the thing that really pops about him is his ability to get forward in terms of runs, etc. It's special for a CB; it's good for a very young RB but not spectacular. I'm not sure he was was worse than Reynolds, but Reynolds is a very clear player with a very clear position and role. You know what you are buying. Busio, Aaronson and McKenzie were all, as you note, much better players in their last season in MLS. Though it is worth noting their were all in their age 19 year (or later) and Che turned 18 in November. And people are buying on potential. So I don't think he's a $2M player because of that. He's performing like one -- or lower -- but he still has the potential to demand more.
I think it comes more down to not original fee but incentives abd add ons. If you read $3M with potential growth to 10M or whatever I think everyone would feel a lot different. Kind of like scally 1.7M original fee with growth to 7M or so.
18-year-old centre-back Justin Che joins 1889 Hoffenheim from FC Dallas. Loan deal until 2023 with option to buy - confirmed! via @kerry_hau @SPORT1— Patrick Berger (@berger_pj) January 15, 2022
Sweet. I’ve never seen anything like all these 1-1.5 year loans to Europe with young mls players but I’m here for it. I’ll be interested to see what Hoffenheim is thinking with regards to Che and the first team. It would be pretty shocking to see him jump right into the 18.
Do Hoffenheim have a B team in Bundesliga Regionalliga? Of course he will have another American already in the roster. Even if the idea is to target July preseason as his real push for the first team, spending the next 6 months in a good training and sometimes playing environment could be worthwhile. Curious if they see him more as a right back.
It’s smart IMO. Kids will be more ready to sign with MLS if they know they will get a real chance overseas. This is on the player now. He succeeds MLS gets a nice fee and credit. He doesn’t, and the kid can come back and continue to play here. The Euro teams, short on funds, get a much better look at a prospect, and will be more willing to pay if the kid succeeds. I looks to make sense for all. Win, win for all. That’s how you make yourself attractive. Mr. Hoeness will have no issue playing him if he shows well. My guess is that the spring will be acclimation, and next year will be let’s see what we have. If Hoff snags a Top 4, the fixture congestion will be brutal for a team like them. Most German clubs outside of Borussia, Bayern, and now Leipzig, usually crash hard domestically the year they are in the CL. Just not deep enough. Che will get serious consideration next year if they make Top 4.