On the bench vs Leeds. ESPN+ match. Bench has a keeper, four kids (17-18), and Hoppe as one of four more experienced players. Guess we'll see.
Middlesbrough use their final sub window to bring on 17 year-old striker Ajay Matthews instead of Hoppe. Oh well. Trailing Leeds 4-3 very late.
Hoppe not in Boro's plans, not surprisingly. They are looking to loan or sell him to MLS (or more likely let him go for free). https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/matthew-hoppe-latest-ahead-middlesbrough-111811580.html
They say that SJ declined the purchase option, but I was under the impression that was Hoppe's decision and that SJ wanted him. It's only important insofar as Hoppe is seemingly running out of options at 23, but appears really reluctant to move to MLS (I'm thinking back to the rumor that Atlanta offered him a decent U22 initiative contract while he was still at Mallorca)
If Hoppe refuses to leave Boro, they will just sit him for a full year and his career will nosedive. He needs to agree to a move, or otherwise he will be riding pine and training "alone".
It's always tempting to say this, but Freddy truly taught us how low the floor is when it comes to what counts as a "Yank Abroad". Mayhaps we'll finally have some representation in the Welsh Premier League! Onward you "New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid"
I’m guessing he’d hit the road for the PV of his remaining contract less the PV of whatever contract he can muster up in MLS or elsewhere…and that seems like a reasonable deal to me.
I hear you, but don't despair. There's always the Premier League. The Canadian Premier Leagur, that is
Here's a BS 'snap poll' re Hoppe: Was he ... 1) a high-potential player who lost his way through a series of bad club choices (and a negative attitude?) that led to diminishing playing time, finally to zero? or 2) an average prospect who parlayed a short stretch of high performance into a very decent, extended series of attractive paydays, way out of proportion to his expected production? Number 2 seems much more likely than Number 1, as it does for many of our young players, but sadly (for many/most of them) minus the hype and attractive paydays. They're all chasing the dream, so I wish them well, and I think the Hoppe saga has at least one more twist/turn in it.
Too early to tell, Central forward is like the Central back, it needs time to mature. Just look at two of our forwards — Pefok and Wright. They both started at top 5 league at young but didn’t cut. Then they went to lower divisions and worked their way back. Hoppe started one game vs. Real Madrid, so he just need to find a lower platform and working from there.
Extremely 2 He couldn't score goals for the Schalke youth teams (4 goals in 33 games across the 4th division and the U19s), then had a wild run of form for the first team by accident, and has milked that for all its worth. There's a decent MLS-level player in there, but I don't know that he's willing to put in the work to achieve that, or willing to take the ego hit to sink to that level permanently.
@ArsenalMetro What can Middlesbrough be thinking? They have no interest in Hoppe, so why keep paying him? Let him go on a free transfer to any club willing to pick up his salary. Still no takers? Pay x% of his salary his first year out - work out the financial terms and get out from under. Why hasn't a deal been reached, somewhere, somehow?
I'm willing to bet that a lot of these conversations have already been happening. Maybe it's not Bobby Wood money, but getting a player to give up a guaranteed salary can be tough, especially if he's convinced he can "make it."
Whichever way Hoppe is convinced shouldn't matter that much, assuming no reduction in pay is required. Again, why wouldn't Middlesbrough - on the hook for 100% of Hoppe's salary, come hell or high water - give him away and pay part of that salary (if need be)? If @Suyuntuy is correct, the Broughs are stuck with two more years of full salary payments. Hoppe wasn't great in MLS but he wasn't terrible, either. Why wouldn't a club in need take him (for free) and pay half his salary? Why wouldn't Middlesbrough choose something over nothing?
Isn’t that pretty much what they’ve been doing the last two years? Hasn’t the problem been nobody seems to have wanted to pay hoppe the equivalent of the remaining portion of his contract?
I doubt Middlesbrough have been inactive, but Hoppe's salary must be too high (relative to his value) for the receiving team to assume 100% of those payments. So, offload him at a discount. The % split could be negotiated. Do we know Hoppe's salary?
According to capology.com he's on £520k, in which case the number of takers is likely to be a nice, round number that closely resembles 0. Even at 100% of his salary, his remarkable lack of production or even PT anywhere since leaving Schalke makes him a likely deadweight at any price. Think of the ineffective intern at your office. Sure, he/she costs nothing but you still want him/her gone and yesterday at that. Clubs need a competitive dressing room and nothing in his record suggests he's going to bring that. If a player isn't willing to take a haircut on his salary, there's not a lot a club can do. At most, they can make him train with the U23 side or equivalent but it's unclear whether they can even make him train alone any more.
Again. That’s exactly what they’ve been doing. And each team he’s been loaned to has taken him for a test drive and realized he wasn’t worth it….even at a split rate.