Why haven't any MLS teams picked up David Testo from the A-League's Richmond Kicker? He's looked terrific in several olympic qualifiers and is one of the only non-MLSers. How would a team go about aquiring his services? He seems like he'd be a cheap, solid find. Mods - feel free to delete this if this is mentioned elsewhere
Isn't this one of the kids going to the Olympic qualifying tourney? I think I read somewhere he was going to Columbus....
Crew use discovery pick From this report it says the Crew have used their first "discovery pick" to get Testo. http://www.1460thefan.com/tf.php?story=dispatch/2004/01/20/20040120-D1-02.html info is near the end of the article.
There's a snag somewhere in this transaction, but then there almost always is. HOWEVER don't make the mistake of assuming he'll come "cheap" as you say. He's a discovery, he's the A League ROY, and is both ineligible for Developmental status and highly unlikely to accept the coolie wages that status would entail. He's not going to break the bank, but he can demand a decent wage. Charleston or Rochester would be happy to oblige him. MLS will have to pony up.
thanks for the info. I had seen him claimed by the crew on: http://www.soccertimes.com/usteams/2004/jan22.htm and as A-leaguer here: http://www.mlsnet.com/content/04/us0122usor.html Looks like it's in the process
I thought teams couldn't use discovery slots on U.S national team players. That way, teams can't bypass the draft by discovering guys like Steve Cronin and Freddy Adu. Something about this is very fishy.
Correct. He was draft eligible a year ago. Everybody else on the U20 team was drafted. He was not, and he's still not happy about it. So he made the best deal he could, with Richmond. So he's not subject to another draft now. His clearing a draft means he can be signed as a discovery, which actually works in his favor since he has to be paid more than he would have if he had been a developmental pick a year ago. A discovery gets, as of a couple years ago, $75,000. Plus, Richmond is due some compensation for his contract, which was, I'm told by the ever-reliable myshap, for three years. So MLS will be coughing up some bucks for him. You can't just draft a guy who's under contract with somebody else.