USMNT Transfer Watch - Movers and Shakers

We also see in Palace the reason so few outside of the "big boys" can make a sustained push at the top of the table.

The second a club like Bournemouth or Palace start to surge, all of their good players are purchased. They can't compete with the salaries and opportunities offered by the "big boys" in Europe. Usually they lose their managers too. Brighton. Imagine if Brighton could actually sign their players to long-term contracts.

It doesn't even matter if the opportunity doesn't really turn out to be all that good. Bournemouth lost 3/4s of theiir backline from last year in the transfer window (who'd only been on loan). What is Dean Huijsen doing at Real Madrid? Now they've had to sell Semenyo too? Maybe somebody else will have to go in the summer?

One can see Palace or Bournemouth being relegated next year in the way Wolves are. Wolves had talent that was all poached.

Glasner at Palace can be mad and feel abandoned all he wants. Palace leadership had a choice. Sell Guehi for something now or lose him for nothing in the summer. They chose the money now.

Maybe Juventus will make the same decision with Weston McKennie.

 

And it's not his fault they're not in the Europa League.

 

The big teams picking on the carcasses of the lesser teams is why MLS has a better league for all of the fans instead of the fans of just the 2-4 top teams.

 

The Liverpool offer was way less than what Newcastle had offered year before (about half as much).

 

Pepi

🚨🇺🇸 After €30m offer from Fulham, there’s still chance for Ricardo Pepi to arrive in Premier League this window.

Fulham remain keen and more PL clubs are also attentive.

USMNT striker seen as market opportunity despite arm injury as long term target. pic.twitter.com/gaL3kMbStY

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 18, 2026

 

I don't believe that fans of other leagues share your odd opinion. Did Seattle pick at the carcass of FC Dallas for Jesus and Arriola?

 

He's saying that Man City, Liverpool etc pick the carcasses of the lesser EPL teams, though it applies across UEFA. Look at Bournemouth.

 

Weekend Review: Italy: ​

Gazzetta dello Sport player ratings: 1=low; 10-high.​

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Watch (): Busio's equalizer that sparked comeback win


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In a salary cap league teams move players for financial reasons at times. The difference being the acquiring team has the same financial rules. In most other leagues the haves just buy from the have nots and there isn't a rule that makes them even (I should say more even).

 

Sky Sports reporting that Fulham "remain optimistic" of signing Pepi despite the broken arm.
https://www.skysports.com/football/...tes-and-rumours?postid=10880806#liveblog-body

All the reporting/rumblings/rumors suggest to me that this is a move Ricardo wants.

 

I agree with the general tenor of the post but I have a quibble. Bournemouth is in a small town and has a small stadium (11307 capacity). This sustained presence in the Premier League is punching way, way above their weight.

 

Crystal Palace is a small club with a small stadium in a suburb of London, who have been bankrupt twice in the last 25 years. Brentford is a small club with a small stadium in a suburb of London. Burnley and Wolverhampton are small clubs from small towns though both have had periods of success. Brighton is a small club from a small town that were playing in a track and field stadium a few years ago. Fulham has been in the shadow of Chelsea, and not that long ago QPR, for decades and share a catchment area with multiple teams. Forest play in a slightly bigger city but share the city with another team and their metro area with Leicester and Derby.

But anyhoo, the point is that players aspire to bigger clubs in bigger towns, who play bigger salaries and can almost guarantee continental competition.

MLS doesn't really have that problem as salaries are capped and no-one is guaranteed a CCC spot.

 

It is a pyramid in every single league on the planet. It does not lessen fans interest in their team, in fact it may enhance it.

 

Australian A-League is not a pyramid. LigaMX is also currently not a pyramid either.

 

None of that matters for fans. Your post that MLS is a better league for all the fans is just not true.

Nobody in their right mind believes that FC Dallas has the same shot at winning a MLS Cup as LA Gals or LAFC. Should not matter to Dallas fans.

Similarly as a Schalke supporter nobody believes that we have the same shot to win the BuLi as FC Hollywood yet The Veltins Arena is still sold out 61,000+ supports every match. 2nd year in 2BL guess what the arena is still sold out every single match.

 

The MLS is even less of a pyramid than LigaMX IMO... and that is why I love the MLS so much. Teams can go from the bottom to the top in a single offseason. Heck, I finally got a home soccer team in SDFC last season and they won the West in their first season. I watch the BL, EPL, Serie A etc... but I think it's a terrible look that the same set of teams win the trophies every year. The BL is the worst of all.... Bayern wins the league 9 times out of 10. It's stupid. Again, I can only speak of my own opinion but I didn't stop watching baseball because I stopped loving the game... I stopped watching because the Dodgers win every year. Since they are one of the most popular teams worldwide it might increase interest in the game overall even though it turns off fans of smaller market teams like me.

 

It will never be completely even.... It's not a random number generator. But MLS is the fairest soccer league there is IMO.

 

I'm not sure what you are saying? Both Australia and Mexico have lower level leagues and traditionally stronger teams in each league.

 

So does MLS.......... is USL not a lower level set of leagues? Neither of these countries currently have pro/rel. Which is typically what having a pyramid implies.

Who are the traditionally stronger teams in the A-League again? The A-League has a very similar structure to that of MLS.

LigaMX has a lot of parity, despite some teams having a spending advantage. Their split season format makes for a compelling compeition where almost any team can win in a given season.

 

They do?

Sorry misread: thought you were suggesting Aus and MX had traditionally big teams in their second divisions.

A league has a AU$3 million hard cap + one marquee player.

 

Relegation in Liga MX is suspended since 2020 and before that relegation clubs were "purchasing" their ascension back in that very same year. They might reinstate next year but there will be strict financial requirements.

A-League is the only professional league in Australia and New Zealand. There will be new second division leagues in both places soon.

 

Of course, the A-league is only 12 teams and a couple of them are really hanging on financially.
For instance, the league is currently operating Central Coast Mariners as they're without an owner.
Last week their academy went into "liquidation."
A-League: APL 'takes over' Central Coast Mariners with club set to be sold

The A-league and MLS are apples and oranges these days, particularly from a financial power point of view in the transfermarkt.

I dont' know what the rules are anymore in MLS based on how Inter Miami is behaving.

[Speaking of that, if an MLS owner wanted to become a multi-club owner........................they should acquire Central Coast Mariners. One of these guys who has more money than they know what to do with.]

 

They're the same as in the CBA. Miami accrued a ton of GAM and now they're spending it.

 

Sources: The Philadelphia Union are finalizing a loan for Neil Pierre, Union Homegrown and U.S. Youth International to Lyngby Boldklub of the Danish Betinia LIGA, Denmark’s second division.

Pierre, 18, has made appearances for the United States across multiple levels of the… pic.twitter.com/pfi9fTxs3V

— José Roberto Nuñez (@JoserNunez91) January 18, 2026

 

And that's a downer.