Sadly we will not get Vela, all of you pot bellies get your wish . BREAKING: According to reporter @MacResndiz the final negotiation of Vela to San Jose fell through at the end. Did not close. 👀 good news?(X-COM credit: @Dre_GreyLife) https://t.co/NgPffb3cEa pic.twitter.com/FNMqGjSUUT— LAFC 𝕏 (@LAFC_X) March 2, 2024
We'll see...I wouldn't necessarily consider it dead yet. One unsubstantiated tweet + could just be a hiccup in negotiations. I was kind of getting used to the idea and talking myself into the positives, but would not be disappointed if it falls thru if we instead get someone else good soon.
wonder why it fell through? Signing a player like Vela, even in the twighlight of his professional playing career, is unchartered territory for San Jose. Rumor was that he wanted $3 million/yr, and maybe more than a 1-year contract, Quakes have never paid more than half of that for a player, ever. Gruezo is closest (highest paid player in the history of the team) coming in at about half that. So, Quakes might not have wanted to take the risk (for more than a year) on a player whose productivity was declining, and, who's had a few injuries, for that kind of money. Vela might not have wanted to uproot his young family and move to San Jose, for a year, ...we will probably never know.
He’s quite handsome isn’t he? Honestly , even if Chivas give him 1/2 of what he’s asking , after taxes and expenses , he would probably be earning more in the long run in Mexico. Anyway, I wasn’t sure if it was a good fit or not but it would have been nice to see Vela in San Jose. Oh well moving on….
If it did fall through, I'll bet Leitch only wanted to set it up as one year, with a club option for a second....Vela probably wanted at least two years guaranteed.
For the first time I could possibly be mad at Leitch if he flubbed this, however its all speculation and deals fall through all the time everywhere, every team so is what it is, onto the next, we can all whine about.
Worth noting that Vela has been a free agent since the end of the 2023 season and apparently no good offers have come in, at least to his sufficient liking, yet, from any Liga MX or MLS clubs. We are heading into the 2nd month of the MLS season and Liga MX has been going for several weeks now.
"whining" kind of implies that our fans are spoiled and complaining unnecessarily. that's not the case here. never has been. not only have we been among the very worst teams in the league for the past 15 years, but fans around here tend to be quite knowledgeable about what it takes to build a winner on a small budget, for 2026. Vela didn't fit at all with Leitchs' stated plan/goal for our team, so naturally there would be some head scratching at this. It's a total misread of the room to think that fans here would see this move as one that fits into our years' long build for 2026. Being good looking enough for you to maybe return to PPP isn't really a great reason for Quakes to sign a player like this. Its not at all clear that we would've seen enough value for the money.
For maximum whine, we can whine about getting Vela - too old, etc. and whine about not getting Vela because we supposedly were unable to do something that we wanted to do even though we shouldn't have tried in the first place!
This may be true, but if he goes to the say Galaxy and has a great season... its another pie on the face
Quakes fans have had to deal with Galaxy signing marquee players since Beckham arrived in 2008 and the league first dreamt up the DP rule(s)... ...nothing new there. Today will be a massive challenge for our boys. LA just spent another $20 million on transfer fees (alone) for their two new DP's...and then there's their attacking midfielder who enjoys running rings around our team...Vela would probably be a bench player for LAG, but I don't see that happening.
Are you familiar with Watergate which ended a presidency? Okay here the source doesn't have to fear the power of the most powerful person on the planet, but when a journalist says "a person close to Vela" instead of naming the person close to Vela, that ensures that he still has a source that can/will provide him with information beyond the immediate moment... Berterame is nasty … only 25 and can play anywhere in that front line. European caliber player. But $15M is a bit high and don’t know how Berterame would feel about playing regularly on the same field he broke his ankle on. https://t.co/RYYhi8xv3T— herculez gomez (@herculezg) March 2, 2024 Portland looks like they might spend $15 million on a 25 year old instead of pursuing a 35 year old Vela for free... let's see how that works out for them
All of you worried about a 35 year old... what if we were linked to the 57 FATHER TIME OLD Kazuyoshi Miura...
Think about it though. The whole thing, taken together, doesn't pass the smell test. Yesterday there was a report that he'd be announced as a Quakes signing "tomorrow" (report from Fox Sports MX). And even The Athletic says he was in "advanced talks" with San Jose. If you're in "advanced talks" I would assume that the basic parameters of the deal are in place, and then it's just the details. With that in mind, it seems unlikely that the deal just completely and suddenly fell apart. This is just me, but I'm going to wait until we find out what actually happens, either way, before whining too much.
It's possible I suppose... maybe they got stuck on the 2nd year (guaranteed vs. option) but to me that falls under the basic parameters of the deal that would get you into "advanced talks"? Who knows.
Sure, and even the Vela thing does fall apart, I'll save most of my whining and/or cheering for when we actually do sign a CAM. If it's Vela I'll whine. If it's a player that's sub-Vela level, I'll whine more. If it's no one and we're going with Skahan I'll whine at max level. If it's someone better/younger than Vela I'll cheer. If it's Hernán López Muñoz I'll cheer a lot. If it's the best CAM in the world I'll cheer at max level. Really it's all in the hands of Chris Leitch!
I still feel like, most likely, we'll have a CAM signing in this window, either Vela or someone else. March is a long month, and then there's part of April as well. As I've said I've sort of come to terms with a prospective Vela signing but I'd prefer an Hernán Muñoz type.