I'd think with his goal scoring exploits in the the youth teams, MLS, and now the national team, along with him being only 20 years old, with his speed,skill, and instincts,if he scores more than 20 goals next year, you could see him in the 6-8 million dollar range. And for the people who hated on EJ and never said he'd amoun to anything for not finishing in UAE can eat crow right about now. It goes to show how people can overeact so much over stupid things such as EJ and a little fellow by the name of ADU
Remind me what Beasley went for? I think it's ludicrous to think EJ could fetch more, he's not 1/10th the name and very few clubs anywhere in the world have two pennies to rub together right now, especially for a player who's basically untested at any sort of level for which he'd be playing were he to be bought for that amount of cash.
Beasley went for around 3 million. Chelsea bought Robben from PSV for 33 million dollars and he was untested in the prem and was pretty new to the Dutch side. If ManU or PSV wants Eddie they'll get him, and for probably a lot less than a sixth of what Robben was bought for, I mean Southampton paid 4 million for Peter Crouch, yes that Peter Crouch. Off topic ManU missed out on Robben and Ronaldinho in the last 3 years, thank god.
People pay for goals. Simple as that. He keeps scoring at anything close to this rate, and he can get any figure he wants.
Would you leave the kid alone and let him develop some more. At least give him another year or two to fully become the player the he will be. At least let the whole world see him if and when the USA Qualifies for the World Cup. Then everyone will want and pay the highest price to get Eddie Johnson. Let FC Dallas enjoy his play.
I'd speculate that if Landon Donovan is valued at ~ 3M Euros ($4.5M), then EJ is somewhere around $3M. The MLS should be able to get a sell-on clause though for the previously mentioned 30% or so. FWIW, I think he'd develop at a faster rate in a place like Holland where he'd probably put in 2-3 years a la Zlatan Ibrahimovic before he'll be ready to move on to a bigger league/club. I don't think his game is ready for the EPL/La Liga/B-liga at this point.
To get a work permit in England after next season, EJ will have to play almost every game for the US. That, or get a waiver. By the end of 2005, the US will have likely played in 24 FIFA-sanctioned matches: 2 vs. Grenada, 6 in the semis, 10 in the hex, plus 6 in the Gold Cup. Of those, 16 are next year. EJ has already played in three so to get to 75 percent, he'll need 15 qualifer/Gold Cup caps next year. Do-able, certainly, but no room for error. That said, I think given his pedigree - U20 Golden Boot, three-game, and counting, qualifier streak as a 20-year old, etc.. - EJ would likely get a waiver. Hell, I wouldn't be at all stunned if he could get a waiver in January. If ever a case for an exception was going to be made, 5 goals in 100 minutes, or whatever it is, is gonna do it. And if one of the big clubs in England thinks that can happen, all bets are off.
I will state, with the utmost confidence, and with the authority bestowed on me by the futbol/football/soccer gods, that EJ's transfer value, at this moment in time, is... more than mine. And this concludes my feeble attempt at some humor. Please excuse my waste of bandwith and each of your 3 seconds that you will never get back when reading this post.
From what I remember of Convey in MLS I would guess that he is playing just a good now as he was in MLS. Convey has done no harm to his career at all by going to England.
I'd like to see him do some damage in next year's qualifier's first, and another season before speculating on what his value is.
If a Man U, Liverpool, or Arsenal came calling next January, he would be granted a conditional permit after an initial rejection. If Howard got it after an appeal, so would Johnson. They make exceptions for exceptional talents. He is an exceptional talent with a sensational goal to caps ratio.
By the time the August window rolls around, EJ is going to have double-digit caps and double-digit goals. Come August, no appeal will be necessary. I live in Dallas. Of course I want to see him stay. MLS has option years on him. But the reality of Business is this: If you are Clark Hunt, John Wagner, Ivan, or Abbott, you are stupid if you are not playing Sun-Tzu "what if" regarding the various Eurosuitors who are debating right now "do we buy him now or do we wait for the price to triple." Because with EJ, even if he tails off and cools down with the Nats, his sell price after '06 is STILL going to be US$3.5MM. -bs
If MLS follows this scenario, they're very likely to get nothing for EJ. Unless he re-signs, and at this point he'd be foolish to unless MLS makes him the second highest-paid player in the league, the kid can walk on a free in two years. MLS basically has one year to A) have EJ play in the league and use him as a marketing tool (should be marketed to the inner-city to show that a kid from the projects can play this game) and to get the most money out of him. Once EJ is a year or less from being free, the offers will shrink and, even after the World Cup, he'll get less for the league because teams don't pay as much for players who are about to be free as they would rather just wait out his contract and get him for no transfer rather than pay a huge transfer fee. MLS has no two-year luxury with EJ. Sell him this January, sell him this summer or sell him next January (06). But after that - the next window being July 06 - and Eddie is six months from being free and they'll get much less for him. The smart business play is to get one more year out of him and sell him next January. That's how I'd handle it unless some team wows them with an offer this January or summer, in which case, once again, all bets are off.
Sandon, there sometimes seems to be a 'lag' effect in place, in that US players don't need to be sold right at the peak of their 'perceived' MLS performance...they can even mix in a bad year (amongst 3 or 4) if they have enough for their highlight package and/or have shown they can shine for a solid couple years in MLS. In this respect, I think MLS would/will be fine waiting to sell Eddie until Jan. 2006, and not worrying if a mediocre season would hurt in value. In all likelihood (although it could), it will not. There isn't a(n) business urgency to sell him coming off this past (breakout) season..essentially, I agree with you that Jan 2006 optimizes all the factors..
Technically, Bayer told Blackburn the price was $9 million when Blackburn inquired. That was back in January or February of this year.
That's not development - that's innate. And if it was development, give credit to the Chicago Sockers. He played there for 4 or so years, right ? He's only been at Man U a year and a half or so.
It sounds like this wasn't a real offer to sell but more of a fishing expedition. Blackburn didn't bite and rightfully so.
How do we "leave him alone"? And what exactly is the difference between playing for FC Dallas and a top Euro team besides the quality of training and competition? And why should Eddie settle for less in terms of football? And why should he take a lot less in terms of money? As I said before, EJ has easily outperformed Brian McBride, who's making $1.5M per year at Fulham. Eddie's MLS option, on the other hand, isn't likely to be more than $100-125K or so. If I were his agent, I would not report to Dallas and instead try to force a transfer to the Euro team of his choice. If he is going to audition with ManU and PSV, then his market value is a lot greater than the MLS should be competing against, even if he doesn't sign with either side. Plus, for the USMNT perspective, he will get better in a quality league much faster than in MLS. If you saw his Jamaica performance, you'd notice that he has a lot of things to work on and you don't polish your game by "being left alone".
Why is it that all the latest reports about him say that he's "only going for training purposes"? That makes me laugh. IMO, you don't get the oppurtunity to "train" with bigger clubs unless the invite you and they don't invite you unless they have interest in you..right? I smell a change of scenery for this kid really soon. IMO, If he seriously impresses at whichever club he "trains" with..........he's gone. good lick EJ, you'll need it.
Not necessarily. Jamil Walker trained with Celtic last off-season. This year, our backup, backup goalie, Cronin, is going to train with Chelsea.
Do the Chicago Sockers produce hot superstar prospects on a regular basis? No? Well, ManU does. So, could it be that a year and a half at ManU is sort of like the Chicago Sockers in dog years?