Tony Taylor was still a U.S. player when he played 15 games one season in the Portuguese top flight. He later switched to representing Panama.
Good move in my opinion. He'll see a higher level of competition than in MLS, and I think he's good enough to establish himself as a starter. He's only 22, so if he can impress he could move to a higher level club in a couple years. He's our best "defensive" RB imo, and could be either a backup to Dest on our 23, or let Dest play in another position if needed.
Wow. 12th place team in an 18 team league... not a strong season for them. I have literally never watched a Portugal club game... How strong is the league? You always hear about Porto and Benfica around CL time but other than that I am pretty clueless as to how the league looks from top to bottom.
I wish Reggie the best but unfortunately there is no track record of Americans succeeding in Portugal and moving on to bigger leagues. Hopefully, he's the first.
For whatever its worth, here's this: https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/#/yr/2020 Portugal is ranked as the 6th best league in Europe according to Uefa, right behind France. I've watched a bit of Portuguese football. My girlfriend is Portuguese, so the games are always on at the restaurants and cafes in her community. I'd say that ranking the league at 6th is fair, although you could definitely make arguments against that. Not surprisingly, it reminds me most of La Liga style - but obviously a step down in quality.
The top 5 or 6 teams are pretty clearly head and shoulders above most/all MLS, I think. After that, the league isn't all that materially different. Ironically, if you use 538's SPI, Boavista's ranking is 40.8. FC Dallas is at 40.7. The stat is hardly authoritative nor particularly accurate crossing the Atlantic, but I thought that was fun. Boavista is likely be sold to the owners of Lille, who look to invest more in the team (which is likely where the cash for Cannon is coming from). That might mean that Boavista is more Guimaraes (LAFC is the only one close in 538) than relegation fodder. And it might provide a pathway to Ligue 1 for Cannon.
As far as I know, Onyewu is the only player we've had that's started more than 2 or 3 games in that league, and that was later in his career when he was returning from a career altering injury, trying to recover his form. I'm assuming Cannon would be brought in to start regularly, and there isn't really a good precedent for that to show where that leads for young American players. That said, although I don't have enough knowledge of the Portuguese league to know whether this move makes sense, I do tend to lump Portugal in with the Eredivisie in my mind, and I'd be a bit disappointed if a USMNT player joined a bottom half Eredivisie side. Maybe Portugal is stronger top to bottom, or maybe this is different because Boavista has much larger ambitions this season, or there is some other arrangement (with Lille or another club) that factors into all of this.
I hear you, but I don't think playing in Portugal for a year prepares you for Ligue 1 any better than playing for FC Dallas. If he was Ligue 1 material, he should have gone to a Ligue 1 side directly, and worked his way up from reserves or whatever. Everytime you move countries (or teams) you have to prove yourself all over again, adapt yourself to a new playing style, system and coach, etc. I'm ambivalent about the move, don't think it's a great one. Would prefer him to move to 2.Bundesliga over Portugal, to be honest.
Well, Boavista probably does have bigger ambitions. And there may be a path to Lille. That said, I'm not sure why the disappointment. We know how good Reggie Cannon is, more or less, and he's good, good enough for the USMNT. I don't think he's super high potential, but he has growth forward. He's not in Dest's class, for example, in terms of skill. He'll play better competition in Portugal than in MLS, even if it's only 10 or so games a year. It's not a dream move, but I can see worse things than an incremental step up. If he plays well, it's a bridge year. Would it be better to be at Porto? More internal competition, but less chance he gets in games, and PT is not always a meritocracy. I suppose it's easier to show out with better teammates, but I'm not sure Boavista is so bad as to create issues. This is probably on the mid to lower end of a move for Reggie Cannon in terms of prestige, but it's not without it's pluses. If people want players to take the next step up on a regular basis, we also can't expect them to wait for the perfect situation to do so, especially in a pandemic.
Put me in the ground that was kind of disappointed when the interested clubs - Zulte Waregam, Beerschot, and (seemingly) Boavista - became clear. His CV is the type that would normally expect bottom-tier and mid-tier clubs in England and Germany to be interested in. Nevertheless, I'm becoming more favorable to the move. 1. MLS pays peanuts to fullbacks. I did a post in January in the US forum about this - Cannon (before his contract extension), Lovitz, Araujo, Vines, and Gutman all earn between 80K and 100K, Lima makes 218K, Rosenberry makes 165K, Hollingshead makes 175K, and Garza makes 275K (even after transferring from Mexico). So Cannon has to transfer if he wants to get paid. 2. Success in Portugal is a clear pathway to the Big 5 leagues. 3. Beyond a few clubs like Chelsea, coronavirus has distorted the transfer market (see the McKennie to Juventus terms). If these 3 clubs are the ones willing to offer $3 million or more to FC Dallas, then why not transfer.
Oh i was saying more cause the owner of Lille is about to become the majority owner for Boavista and they're planning on using this club as a feeder club
Reggie is a super smart, calculated dude. His interview after he singed the extension with FCD was fascinating, about how he and the club structured it in a way that would incentivize a transfer during this window and how it would benefit him and the club. So if he makes this move he has a plan, and the club sold him on the potential there. I know it may feel like a last ditch move because it's not a big club or league, but Reggie is the kinda guy who knows what he's doing.
Hey boys! Boavista is 4th best club in Portugal in silverware and have produced class gems, some world class like Bruno Fernandes recently. I am sure you have also heard of Nuno Gomes, João Pinto, Raúl Meireles. There also old legends like Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Now I know historically it matters little, but in a sense it sort of does in Europe depending of the context. Boavista was relegated years back due to a court decision that was later proved to be wrong. Boavista had to be reinstated back to the 1st League a few years back. The club have been constantly working with the lowest budget of the league and yet has been consistently reaching midtable position while trying to gradually lower the debt. This is such an enormous task that will probably take another 5 years or more until the club is in a position to be able to compete back to european competition spots. The club have defeated Internazionale, PSG of Ronaldinho, defeated Borussia Dortmund, drew Liverpool twice, etc The club is known by a fair amount of people in Europe, especially in their 30s. Those who are younger might be aware of it due to its constant presence in european stages at the start of the millenium and due to its unique looking jerseys. The reason why this sort of matters is that Gérard Lopez sees potential to rise the club and pretty much emulate what he has done in Lille. Granted, Lille at the moment is undoubtedly top of the chain for the investor, so it's only natural that in the first 2 or 3 seasons, the club will have to revamp the team a lot to be able to sell often, balance the finances, invest on infrastructure and stay competitive so that it can reach the status of a top 4 team in Portugal again. Only then, it might have enough footing to wash away that image that it's satellite of Lille when in fact it's just owned by the same group of investors. The team still have a lot of players missing in the squad that are yet to come. The most notable that have arrived are Javi Garcia (ex-Real Madrid, ex-Man City) and Angel Gomes (ex Man United). Sebastián Pérez is en transit and so on. More undisclosed surprises coming for what I have heard. At the moment there are no right backs so Reggie at the moment would definitely start. He would also be the best right back since the club was reinstated. I am also looking forward to see him grow and I think he'll have enough experience and pedigree in the squad to feel this experience worthy. As far as competition goes in the league, I am just going to mention an episode with Jorge Jesus who was a coach that brazilian media was skeptic about. He ended up winning everything with Flamengo, including the Libertadores. He moved now to Benfica. Which is my way of saying, that even if you want to debate quality of players of the bottom half of the league, the tactical approach is undoubtedly more demanding than on that side of the ocean. This year is going to be particularly interesting as Benfica is spending a lot of cash this year, Sporting and FC Porto are aiming to spend wisely based on the the type of players they are going for. What everyone is hyped about though, is that there 5 more clubs, including Boavista, that are hiring a lot of international promising kids, plus a few vets with experience that by reputation alone, had no right to be in those clubs. On top of it, a lot of the clubs seem to be betting on offensive minded coaches. So there is a lot of expectation this year for the league. It's a bit of a cycle, portuguese league always gets 6th but quality wise has its moments. Even if you disagree, it's a bit of a moot argument because if he does well here, there is no better showcase in Europe. Just check the number of players and money generated through sells in the portuguese league of the past years and you'll be very surprised. We're the league where european colossus come to buy. Mendes help on that and he is a close friend of Luís Campos, the right arm man of Gérard Lopez. And yes, going to Lille the year after, or even 2 years after is a strong possibility. So all in all, he has more to gain than going to a more obscure league in a richer country just because there this illusion of "competitiveness". No, what he needs is exposure. Sorry for the wall of text, hope to see him here as an axadrezado. Cheers!
Yeah appreciate the context and the dose of optimism. I'm curious though about the quote below: How much is this true of Portuguese clubs that aren't competing in Europe (like Porto, Benfica, Sporting, and Braga)?
Thanks @Chess_Panther . The biggest concern I have for Reggie is the lack of historical success for Americans in Portugal. We haven't sent a lot of players over, and certainly not many who were already starting somewhere (as opposed to youth players) but it does seem like Portugal can be kind of meat grinder for young talent. The cream rises to the top, of course, but there doesn't seem to be many chances for foreign talent. Of course, I don't follow it closely, so I could be wrong.
Money wise, it's quite an abyss of transfer values, a lot has to do with financial inequality between top and midtable/low table clubs - again, as a note it's more balanced this year throughout. Regardless exposure is not a problem. Last season Léo Jardim got hired by Lille through Rio Ave. Boavista sold Gonçalo Cardoso to West Ham and I think I even remember Kaio from Santa Clara going to Krasnodar. All of these are teams who have much more financial power than the portuguese clubs mentioned. There are more examples from the past years, better ones even, but frankly I am a bit too busy at the moment to reinforce my argument better. Check transfermarkt I guess, it must be listed there. Regardless, top teams buy from the bottom half too which increases the exposure further. If anything Reggie shouldn't worry about is that really, as long he plays often and does well.
To be honest, I see more chances with this kid prevailing here than some past american players. Time will tell, but based on what I have seen, I am optimistic on this. This coach at Boavista is known for making use of a duo mid and center backs to defend when losing possession, so Reggie's defensive skills won't be that vital. I say this because I am not entirely sure how he'll fare on that. He seems to be good going forward though.
Proving himself more wouldn't be the point of going to Boavista on loan first, rather to wait until next season when Lille wouldn't have maxed their non EU limit. Then Cannon would have hoped to play well enough in the meantime to warrant one of those spots.
Outside the top 4-5, the Portuguese Primeira is a poor man's MLS right now (natural considering populations & how the $ in the league is distributed). So that's how long the higher level of comp will last. They aren't even in Europa League. I'd imagine it wouldn't be specifically Boavista if not for the dual ownership w/ Lille. Otherwise it's a random, misfitting club. I've seen nothing to dissuade that. W/ all the talk of being on the upswing, they haven't paid a transfer fee in a couple years, and it was 400k. Otherwise free transfers & loans. This season 1 FT, 7 loans. But all of a sudden they're going to pay at least a couple million for a right-back? This after others met FCD's asking price. So until FCD & Cannon confirm that it's inexplicably Boavista, and the end, I'll be thinking there's more to the story.
Seeing some chatter that it could actually be a sale to Lille, with Boavista the loan location for the year.
Like I said, smallest budget in the league ever since the club was reinstated. So of course they weren't in a position to do so with a bunch of 1 season long loans and whatever they could muster to try and be competitive. Even then, they did pretty damn well. This is where the investor comes in to get Boavista back to the reputation it had to 4th best in Portugal and spoken again in Europe. It increases the value of players which then means more money to his pockets. He did the same to Lille, which wasn't in a such poor state compared to Boavista, but the french club was drowned in debts. Due to Gérard's strategy alongside Luís Campos, who is a master at scouting, they were able to squash that debt by half. I didn't want to go to the trouble of explaining of what SAD and Club is in Portugal but here it goes (thanks to wiki): Sociedade Anónima Desportiva ("Public limited sports company") is a special type of public limited company (SA) in Portugal. The new legal status was introduced in the early 1990s to improve financial management and transparency in sports clubs. Essentially the vast majority of clubs have 2 entities within, SAD and the Club. The investor is going to be the major shareholder in SAD. There is an internal deal of SAD acquiring players and then giving out steady cash to the Club, among many other things. So the amount of loans you're seeing with a lot of buyout clauses (some of them mandatory) are due to the nature of this transition that has yet to be completed. The project has to be voted by fans sometime before the start of the league, for the time being there is a plan in motion to make sure if the vote denies the entry of the investor, then it can be reverted after a year. So the investor is not going to put hard cash right away without being fully sure he won't be taken advantage of. Of course Lille might buy the player and then announce a loan to Boavista afterwards, but I think you're missing the point along with a lot of the press on this matter. It is not Lille buying Boavista's SAD, it is Gérard Lopez. The man has no special affection for Lille to be his main club. There will be a certain dependence from the portuguese club initially through this transition, but I even bet that all it takes is one big sell by one of the kids this season and there would be money by the club per se to purchase Cannon. If all fails, Gérard will be there with the big bucks from SAD's side.