DC United may not be negotiating with anybody, since they don't own his contract. MLS does. MLS officials are probably talking to anybody with a checkbook. He won't be going anywhere anytime soon, but perhaps teams are willing to pay now to get the player later....
More expanded league statement: http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20060207&content_id=51676&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
I understand the complexities of both the work permit, 18 year age limit in the UK, and getting into the senior squad rotation at Chelsea. Is it not possible for Chelsea to get Freddy and then loan him out to a Continent side (ie. PSV player relationship, Murinho Portugal connection) to get him first-team playing time? I just have the feeling like others here that such speculation has always occured, but with the DCU and MLS denials, it seems like there might be some truth to the reports. Everyone must also understand that there are player rumors and speculations with Chelsea as suitor daily.
Done Deal Despite what others were saying in December, this has been in place for a while. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=284279&highlight=mkpage My guess is MLS is just negotiating over numbers at this point, not if the deal is real. Freddy IS being bought by Chelsea.
The statement reads exactly like the kind of thing clubs say when negociations for a transfer are ongoing, but they don't want to have it known publically in case nothing transpires. I find the response of Adu's agent telling. When asked about the story, he says "We are mindful of the fact that he will turn 17 in the summer. At this stage nothing has truly been decided." A non-denial denial if ever I heard one. I think its virtually certain that an offer was made by Chelsea to MLS. The question now is whether MLS thinks it worthwhile to cash in on Adu now for the Chelsea $8 million or so, or wants to hold onto him until 2007 regardless. Another factor in the equation is Adu's willingness to move overseas. From the sound of it, he'd be over there in a heartbeat. I put the chances of Adu playing in a DC shirt in September at about 50/50.
Re: Done Deal Rumor or not, it's a moot point. Read the PDF linked in my sig. Pay particular attention to Article 19.
Re: Done Deal If this is the case, why is this supposed FIFA restriction on U18 transfers not mentioned in the Times article, BBC article, DC United and MLS press releases, not to mention statements by his agent ? Do you think they all forgot about it ? You would think that Chelsea would have checked that part out long ago. It may be that those regulations (and ways to get around them) aren't quite as simple as we may think.
what is the over/under on how many times we see lastort post the above quote in this thread? hey mike i would personally like to see you respond to everybody with this quote...i dont see how he could transfer until hes 18 either...but it seems rather popular to say hes got one foot out the door
Re: Done Deal HE CANNOT TRANSFER UNTIL HE IS 18. Period. Full stop. Game over. It's. Not. Going. To. Happen. Accept it.
That's why I decided to link the FIFA regs in my sig. Some people are so dense. He cannot transfer until he's 18. It's a FIFA regulation. How hard is that for people to understand????
Re: Done Deal I have read the transfer rules. My point is not whether Freddy is off to Chelsea right now or this summer. Read the summary of my comments in the link I posted. My point is that it's a done deal. Has been for a while.
Re: Done Deal I love it when someone comes in these Adu transfer, Vela transfer threads an tries to suggest that Mike, Superdave, myself, and all the others on these boards are full of shite. I also find it ammusing that these same people just assume no one has tried to beat the system before and realized that they couldn't do it. ADU WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER PLAY PROFESSIONALLY FOR ANY CLUB IN THE WORLD EXCEPT IN THE UNITED STATES OR IN GHANA UNTIL HIS 18TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! did you get that, do you hear me you ********ing braindead asshats out there. Stop pretending you somehow have figured out a way to do it when hundreds of lawyers for the clubs haven't. Rant over...now on to Adu to Chelsea thread #189 to repost
Re: Done Deal It is not a done deal until the contracts are signed. The contracts can't be signed until he can be legally transferred. He cannot be legally transferred until he is 18. He will not be 18 until June 2nd, 2007.
So Article 19 basically rules out Adu's departure from the MLS unless his mom gets a position at Number 10 Downing Street, or the bombshell of the century occurs and Freddy produces a birth certificate with an older date. I imagine there are some discussions, but none that involve his imminent departure. There are probably some paralegals in London charging Roman for dinners. I think that from DCU and MLS perspectives, they are most likely not in direct negotiations with any other clubs. Could be working a la Korean nuclear standoff in multilateral talks involving agents, lawyers, Nike, etc... bfd
Listen, it's quite simple. He can't go. Why the hell would MLS and/or DCU violate FIFA regulations by negotiating a transfer that can't occur until at least June 2nd, 2007?
Re: Done Deal Grow up. I posed a serious question to Mike, but since you've chosen to respond in such a charming fashion, perhaps you could enlighten me with your wisdom. If the FIFA regs essentially rule out the possibility of Adu going to Chelsea, why would the DC press release not simply say so ? Surely it would put an end to all the rumors if they just posted Mikes link ? Now, another serious question. When did those FIFA regs become active ? I ask since a cursory Google search reveals talk of Man United getting or attempting to get 'scholarship contracts' for foreign U18 players, but the dates are 2003 and 2002, so maybe this happened before the regs came into effect.
Re: Done Deal Because they didn't mention it. Who the hell knows why not. They went into effect about three years ago.