http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/2215352.stm Beyond Doug Chapman's statement that Charlton Athletic's director of scouting was in Naperville last night scouting DaMarcus (and Ajax still showing interest), the Boro talk resurfaces... I'm unable to find the original story in the Sunday People on the web. Boro never did sign Blomqvist...
http://icteesside.icnetwork.co.uk/boro/news/page.cfm?objectid=12144968&method=full&siteid=50080 Supposedly, 1.5m IK ($2.28m USD) is the new offer.
Only 1.5m pounds? I'd like a promising 20-year old like DaMarcus is worth more. Especially with the transfer deadline looming.
If DaMarcus wants a big european contract he is going to have to learn to pass and finish better to go along with his speed and dribbling ability.
So whats the verdict on this one? Should he be sold? I thikn the answer is yes. Over $2mil is a good offer for DMB, and the Ajax offer was accepted (I believe) until they signed someone else IIRC. I think they shoudl send him over to Boro as soon as his MLS season ends sometime in early October. They need to do this before the transfer deadline and agree to let him go once his MLS seasons over. I agree with those who say its wrong to take a player out of their team's playoff race to transfer. I think his ideal situation would be to stay until the seasons over and then go. You woudlnt wanna leave unfinished business. But thats just my opinion. I hope he goes though...
Love to see him over in England. While he might not play all that much this season, he'll only get better over there. And since he wants to go (he was looking forward to Ajax), why keep him here if the offer's good (which this one seems to be, given the market)?
I can't imagine DMB being worth $2 million to MLS over the next 3-4 years. He's a good player, and a great one for being 20, but he's not going to be the draw that a Donovan, Mathis or McBride would be. Sachin
To answer that question, one has to think about what $2.28 million would mean for the league. For example. if MLS tickets cost an average of, say, $15, $2.28 mil is the equivalent of selling about 150,000 more tickets - or, an increase of 10,000 in Chicago's average home attendance next year (I know it isn't exactly the same as attendance, because more fans means more sponsorship money etc, but you get the idea). Alternatively, a single transfer feee of $2.28 mil, once per year, could give every player on an MLS roster a $10k raise, roughly. I imagine that would help in terms of attracting young American talent away from Europe,which would probably bring in more transfer money in the long run. While I don't know much about the financial situation of MLS, I don't see how the positive impact of Beasley staying in MLS until he can leave on a free would outweigh the benefits of selling him for an amount similar to the one mentioned here.
Keep in mind MLS doesn't get the whole amount. After Beasley and his agent get their piece of the pie, the amount MLS would get would be under $2m US.
Right, I forgot about that stuff. OK, revise all the numbers in my previous post down by the relevant percentage . I think the general point still holds - $2 million (or $1.5 million, or $1 million) may be small as transfer fees go, but for a low-budget league like MLS, it could be pretty substantial.
It would be great for American soccer. He'd go turn heads in Europe and another up-and-coming US player would have a starting role, and another up-and-comer would have a spot on the Fire's bench - but he'd be able to practice 24/7 at a new level.
if he is coming...he will have to come this week before the transfer window starts on the 31st of august......that or just after christmas..... and the blomquist deal is still alive..he still needs to pass a medical which he cant as he got injured......
well the money you could get for him could then go into youth development and create 5 demarcus beasleys which them creates even more cash...etc etc.....it could start a good chain reaction if the money is well spent....
I don't think the case for DMB to go to Europe at this time is as strong as the case for Donovan to go. He has not polished his game to the same level, IMO. And sitting the bench in Europe will not do as much as playing regularly for another season in MLS. LD is a case in point. LD's game improved dramatically when he began to play regularly with SJ. If European training is SO good, why was he not better when he got back??? He needed PT which he was not getting with BL. DMB is at the same place now that LD was, IMO. At his age, DMB will add weight in the next year, something that will definitely help him. He can also work on his ball control and finishing at a level that will not be so demanding that he will have little time to polish it. All of this is stuff he won't get if he is sitting the bench someplace. In another year he will be more polished, stronger and more emotionally mature, all of which will make him better equipped to handle the next level. As to the benefit to MLS of selling him to Europe; there is no long-term gain. The $1-1.500,000 they will pocket from his sale is nothing compared to his value to the level of play in the MLS over the next year. Every opponent that goes to play the Fire will be jacked up to play against this guy. That is worth more money down the road in terms of developing better players. This is a long-term strategy to develop soccer in the US. Selling players at a time they are only at a level that allows them to make a team but sit the bench is not good planning. Better to keep them here another year, allow them to develop a more all-round game and go against some of the younger guys to develop THEIR skills than to send him off to Europe before they are ready.
You know, as nice as this would be -- to see him playing in the Premiership -- he'd get pounded over here. The Premiership is a very fast, physical game and I just don't know if he could weather it. I mean, maybe mentally he could but I'm betting his body would just break down about half-way through... Also, there's no guarantee he'd play regularly at Boro. They have a pretty good squad. Sunderland need all the help they can get, as do Bolton and West Brom...
It always amazes me how quickly people forgot the World Freakin' Cup around here. Not two weeks after it was over, some on BS were proclaiming how Donovan needed to go to Old Frothingkarlsubermund Kickfest United because he didn't stand much of a chance of playing for Bayer (now we suck near the bottom of the Budesliga) Leverkusen. DaMarcus would do quite well in the EPL. You know why? He does quite well at one of the best teams in MLS (notwithstanding their poorer, injury-riddled season). And he played pretty well on the biggest freakin' stage in the world. Stop with the inferiority complexes around here. Maybe DaMarcus shouldn't go. Middlesbrough probably couldn't make the playoffs in MLS. It might stunt his soccer growth playing with them bums.
...Or we could just let him stay in Naperville so he can become another casualty of poor (or fake) American playing surfaces like Josh Wolff and Clint Mathis thus hurting his speed and future chances at Europe. I think DMB moving to a mid-table side like Charlton, or a side with potential like Middlesborough would be a great move for him and MLS. if it is for 2.28 million dollars, then DMB gets 10%, which is 228,000, and his agent gets 10% of that, which is 22,800 (or my current yearly take). If my calculations are correct, then MLS comes out of this at 2.06 million dollars. That is not a bad chunk of change for the leauge, and it hopefully will set the bar for future clubs looking at mining our young talent. There is the question, again, though...Would DMB be even remotely close to a work permit??
I also think this is a fair offer and a good match for DMB. Dispite his small stature he really bounces back from getting knocked down. "The lighter they are the softer they fall." I doubt he would be bench ridden there. At least he would be a late game sub and use his speed. I really hope this goes thru. I think he shouldn't have a problem getting a work permit, at least on appeal. His skills will definitely improve faster at that club than the fire. If not for the level of play being hire, the season is also a few months longer. He is a young kid, in incredible shape. I think he would hold up fine.
There are lots of example players who went and played in Europe became bettter players like O'brien, Reyna etc please let him go MLS, remember our target final WC 2006 in Germany.
DMB would do well flying up and down the flank in the EPL. How's his crossing ability? Now this is a touchy subject but he is the most marketable black player in MLS. Will MLS let that go?