Blogger Maradawga caught word that MLS received an offer for Kansas City's Eddie Johnson from England's West Bromwich Albion. As he says, the league should go for it before Eddie's stock tanks further - unless the offer was totally insulting; I'm thinking only something less than $1 million fits that description.
He picked that out of a New York Times article that clocks progress, or lack thereof, on several trades (scroll down). For what it's worth, I'm pretty mystified by a few of them. For instance, why pass on $750,000 for Jimmy Conrad? Unless Conrad doesn't want to leave, take the money and let the guy go; that goes double if he does want to go. How much more can one expect for a defender pushing 30?
I mentioned potential Clint Dempsey trade(s) below (LINK and LINK), who has a couple English clubs on his tail; Jack Bell, who wrote the Times article, names West Ham United. The only offer so far cited (confirmed? don't know) was $2 million and that's a tough call. While the league does need to get all it can when it loses high-profile players, the line between alluring and coy isn't a thick one. The "X-Factor" in the Dempsey situation is pretty straight forward: in all probability players in Dempsey's league view MLS as a springboard to Europe. If a perception grows that the league is something of a trap, the question could whether they'll simply by-pass MLS. The balance isn't simple, but frustrating a player's ambition poses very real risks of its own. For what it's worth, $2 million sounds good enough for a player who wants to leave.
The rest of the trading news seems brighter. Austrian Markus Schopp sounds New York-bound; that one waits on terms. And a couple promising youngsters seem homeward bound as well: Bell names Stefani Miglioranzi while another outlet mentions Daniel Karbassiyoon's return. I won't pretend to great knowledge of either player, but with both of them seeminly good enough to attract interest in Europe, it's hard to believe their presence and play will hurt the league.
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