[MLS 2013 COUNTDOWN] As the January window in Europe was set to close, there was a flurry of action on the MLS front. Popular Kei Kamara moved on loan from Sporting Kansas City to England’s Norwich City, 2010 MLS Rookie of the Year Andy Najar became the first homegrownplayer to be transferred abroad when he went from D.C. United to Belgian champion Anderlecht, and all signs pointed to Brek Shea leaving FC Dallas for StokeCity in England.
The moves again raised questions about the wisdom of MLS clubs letting some of their best young talent leave.
Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman went so far as to write an open letter to the club’s fans, acknowledging how frustrating it isplayers aspire to play in leagues like the EPL and will leave MLS.
But he said his organization could not begrudge players for wanting to move and insisted Sporting KC was committedtoward its goal of winning MLS Cup 2013. (It won the last two Eastern Conference regular-season titles but fell short in the playoffs.)
Heineman added that the loan proceeds will allowSporting KC to reinvest in its existing core of players and an eventual transfer fee — the loan goes through May 6 with an option to purchase — will give the club even that much more allocationmoney. As a business proposition, Sporting KC did not want to repeat what happened to Roger Espinoza, who left for Wigan Athletic at the end of the year as a“free” player.
Still, Heineman admitted the move hurt on a personal level …
D.C. UNITED. Najar’s permanent transfer to Anderlecht after a month’s loan was also a tough call, butGeneral Manager Dave Kasper
“We said all along the deal had to be in the best interests of both Andyand D.C. United,” Kasper said. “Anderlecht stepped up to the plate in the final 48 hours.”
The transfer fee was believed to be in the range of $3 million, and D.C. willcollect 75 percent and MLS will take 25 percent because Najar, who attended high school in Northern Virginia and played in the D.C. academy program, was a homegrown player. The agreement also callsfor a sell-on fee when Najar is transferred in the future. D.C. United should also get the FIFA-mandated training compensation fee on all future transfers.
Najar is the second MLS playerAnderlecht has signed after Sacha Kljestan.
“Najar’s signing is a long-term proposition,” said Anderlecht general manager Herman Van Holsbeeck. “Andy Najar has lots of room to grow and his style of pay is similar to what we play. The technical staff evaluated him closely during his month-long tryout andthey submitted a positive report on him.”
Najar’s move is the first confirmed permanent transfer of an MLS player during the January window. Other players have moved on loan, like Kamara,or as free agents, like Espinoza.
Roger Espinoza(Sporting KC to Wigan Athletic, England-free transfer)
Alvaro Fernandez (Chicago to Al Rayyan, Qatar-loan)
AndreHainault (Houston to Ross County, Scotland-free transfer)
Fredy Montero (Seattle to Millonarios, Colombia-loan)
Andy Najar (D.C. United to Anderlecht, Belgium-transfer)
Kei Kamara (Sporting KC to Norwich City, England-loan)
Dane Richards (Vancouver to Burnley, England-free transfer)
Carlos Valdes (Philadelphia to Inde. Santa Fe, Colombia-loan)
Note: Other players have moved abroad followingtheir release by their MLS clubs.
NEW YORK. The New York Red Bulls confirmed the hiring of former Chivas USA head coach
“Robin Fraseris a class act. I think he’ll be an outstanding addition to our management team,” said Red Bulls Sporting Director Andy Roxburgh in a statement.“First, he has the experience of MLS as a player and then as a winning assistant coach. He also had the opportunity on the front line as a head coach. He will bring an enormous amount ofenthusiasm, knowledge and coaching acumen to our club.”
REAL SALT LAKE. Real Salt Lake acquired 20-year-old Ecuadoran Joao Plata from Toronto FC for a second-round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. Toronto FC drafted Plata after he took part in the 2011 MLS Player Combine. He scored 10 goals and addednine assists in 52 appearances in all competitions for Toronto FC before returning to Ecuador on a six-month loan for the second half of the 2012 season.
“We are happy to add afast, young forward with MLS experience,” said RSL GM Garth Lagerwey in a statement. “We believe that Joao can become an impactful member of our team as wecontinue to work to restock our forward group.”
Wednesday, Jan. 30
Chivas USA 4 (Bolanos 2, Correa, Rivera)FC Santa Clarita Storm 1 (Ibarra).
Columbus 2 (Higuain, Finlay)
Thursday, Jan. 31
*Houstonvs. Colorado (The Desert Friendlies) at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.
Friday, Feb.1
Columbus vs. New York at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
D.C. United vs. Malmö FF at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Los Angeles vs. U.S. U-17 national team at HomeDepot Center in Carson, Calif.
*Sporting KC vs. Portland (The Desert Friendlies) at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.
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Except fr Kamara, I wouldn’t be too concerned about the “MLS star drain”. Najar and Shea will be back sooner then later. As for Kamara, he’s been the most technically consistent player for several years, unlike Shea and Najar who have solid games followed by poor performances. Seeing that Dane Richards went to Scotland is an indication that the Scot club’s talent hunter was intoxicated with Richard’s speed, and he didn’t analyze his “soccer brain”.
Well first, Burnley is an English club, not Scottish, think Blackburn (Lancashire) rather than East Fife… they play in the second level of English Football, The Championship and last I saw they were in 6th place, which if they continue to stay there or move up puts them in the play-off run towards promotion to the EPL and the “Big Money”… chances are they won’t grab the brass ring, but they do have a shot still. Next Richards has yet to actually make an appearance for them so he has yet to fall on his face… as to his soccer Brain, he clearly became a much better player after playing a few seasons with New York, did less pointless dribbling, aka suffer from a case of “Winger’s Disease” but he does indeed have real speed and in the English Game that is something that IS often praised a great deal… but he was on a Free Transfer and as such it costs Burney very little to sign him, so I’d think THAT was the reason… he came very cheaply for them and since they are NOT a rich EPL club, at least not yet, that is an important consideration. As to Najar and Shea boomeranging back to MLS, well I’m on Record as thinking Shea is greatly Hyped by MLS and yes he has yet to play consistently and he has done some decidedly STUPID things… the uncalled for nasty Foul on Chris Albright, that pretty much put an end to his career quickly comes to mind… I’m really no fan of his… but Najar was asked (Forced?) to play as a wing fullback last season and while that might have helped out DC United’s defense, it clearly didn’t help Najar… he is going to the Biggest Club in a medium sized League, which is likely as good a situation as he could ask for and very likely he will stick around there and might even have a shot of heading higher… I DON’T expect him to return, hey once they decided to spend some real money to buy his contract, it’s a fair bet that good or bad they’ll try to get some of it back and that likely means some other European side would pick him up… MLS just won’t have the money to bid for him, so he stays SOMEWHERE in Europe. Kamara is considerably older than either of the others so you would expect him to have a better track record… we’ll see how much playing time they give him. … (ICE)