San Jose Earthquakes' midfielder Ronnie O'Brien won't return to the club, Quakes GM John Doyle said Thursday after the two sides failed to reach a contract deal. O'Brien, who lives in San Jose, wanted to stay, reports Elliott Almond, but the player said "the number they came back with was really low. It wouldn't have taken much more to keep me here."

Brazilian midfielder Francisco Lima also left this week to sign for an Italian club, but Doyle said the Quakes will look to Arturo Alvarez and second-year player Shea Salinas to cover the right wing where O'Brien played well last year. They also drafted defensive midfielder Brad Ring to compensate for Lima's departure.

The Quakes were willing to part with O'Brien, the team's second highest-paid player, to create salary room for a strong center forward. O'Brien knew when he came to San Jose last year that he would have to take a salary cut in his option year, but he didn't expect his stay with the team to end so suddenly "I had a good time here," said O'Brien. "There's no point going through the 'he said, she said.' It doesn't help anybody. The team will move on and I'll move on." Read the original story...