if you read the article....it is UK work permit rules keeping Long from a move to the UK - to the "special partner" of the USA... MLS can at least publically denounce these rules...as they are the reason that Aaron Long, Juan Agudelo, Brek Shea, Zack Steffen etc...are not allowed to play in the EPL... meanwhile, until things change, if they ever do, MLS can stop demanding fees that only EPL teams can afford for the transfer of its players. Taken another way...MLS is saying to domestics: we will gladly transfer you if a foriegn bidder reaches our price demands....but the only country that can afford our demands also bars any americans who aren't well-established world cup stars from playing there. (in the case of Long this is not an issue as West Ham has apparently agreed to pay the 5m if only a work permit was available!) There are even owners in MLS who are also owners in the EPL...it really isn't that far-fetched for some kind of agreement to come to pass...with our "special partner".....MLS should push for some kind of agreement with the EPL that Americans can have an easier time playing in the UK..... (personally, what I would do is reciprocate the rules vs Brits and make it harder for them to come to the USA) If MLS actually cared about american players and american soccer and the USMNT...they would do so....but they don't so they don't care.
Considering Long is the reigning Defender of the Year, and the league is seen as being on par with the second divisions of the big four leagues, $5m does not seem to me like an excessive demand. It actually seems low for a release clause for that kind of player, compared to the European market. Note that a release clause is a number that obligates the club to accept the transfer. Clubs can and do agree to transfers below the release clause. Second: MLS cannot discriminate against British players. That would be illegal in the US. The only distinction that can be made is green card vs. no green card. American MLS teams cannot even count Canadian players as domestic, even though there are Canadian teams in the league!
Yeah. If MLS “cared,” they should allow themselves to get fleeced and accept pennies on the dollar for an asset. And the club he’s leaving should lose a player they’ve developed and get very little in return. This ain’t charity.
Looks like he makes about $450,000. That seems about right for a player of his experience, skill, and resume.
I just wanted to make sure you understood they can hold out if they want but losing him for nothing is even worse because thats what they are looking at soon.
Unless they feel like there's benefit to just having him on the team until his contract is over. If they can win games, or titles, or sell tickets, or jerseys, and the offer they're getting for him isn't enough to make it worth losing that stuff...
He just signed a new contract prior to this season, so no the Red Bulls are not in danger of losing him for nothing any time soon. I'd also note that a $5 mln exit clause for a 26 year old who was just named MLS defender of the year and who has been a regular national team starter over the last year isn't exactly exorbitant. It isn't like they are holding him hostage. https://www.prosoccerusa.com/commentary/aaron-long-parker-pay-mls/
then that is something the club and players in the future will have to consider. and there are always ways to get out of a place you dont want to be
its mls...more then half the league makes the playoffs only two teams are more then 10 points out and they aren't even trying. can easily argue that cinci wasn't planning on trying this year at all and colorado gave up before the season started. so the red bulls being in the 'playoff race'...well technically so are the crew who should start rethinking the move and forget plans to stay there no team other then colorado needs a fresh start more then them.
Well the Red Bull’s are just 3 points out of first, but also only 2 points clear of 8th place Toronto, so there is a real chance of them either finishing in first place, securing a first round bye and home field advantage throughout or missing the playoffs altogether. Aaron Long gives them a much better chance of making it the former vs the latter, which is the point.
first place...which they have done before..still didn't win it gives them a 'better chance' sure of doing the same thing they've done the last 10 years. they let tyler adams go...they can let aaron long go.
they got a transfer fee for him though so they made the deal before his contract was over he wasn't a free transfer.
What’s your point? They didn’t transfer him midseason during a playoff push. If anyone wants Long, they can have. He has a $5 mln release clause.
its good business any young players may shy away from resigning with the red bulls if they know the red bulls won't let them to to europe if they get a chance.
So what? He was moved within the Red Bull organization and, despite their flagship team wanting him midseason, NYRB didn’t move him until the end of the season because they were trying to win. That said, when it comes to West Ham it certainly appears they came in with a pretty lowball offer initially, had it rejected perhaps sweetened it, but then ran into work permit issues. So certainly appears that deal is dead and that has nothing to do with NYRB. If some other club in Europe wants him, they can have him by simply paying the $5 mln fee to trigger his release clause. BTW, that is a figure that the player and his agent agreed to when they negotiated his brand new contract.