The friendly to be played Wednesday between Philadelphia and German club Schalke 04 could turn out to be much more than just an exhibition match, reports KerithGabriel.
Spanish striker Raul Gonzalez Blanco — a.k.a. Raul — will play his final game for Schalke at PPL Park, which would become his home stadium if hesigns with the Union and MLS. With the team mired in a scoring slump — five goals in eight games — since trading Sebastien Le Toux to Vancouver, the prolific Spaniard would seem agood fit.
His announcement last month that he’d be leaving Schalke prompted speculation as to his next destination, and the timing of this friendly leads many to believe an MLS contract isimminent for the 34-year-old, who before moving to Germany set a Real Madrid scoring record with 228 league goals and 323 in all competitions.
He has scored 28 goals in 66 matches the pasttwo seasons for Schalke, and retired from the Spanish national team in 2010 with 102 caps and 44 goals.
As tantalizing as it might be to have Raul play for two seasons in Philly and in the MLS, doesn’t a player like him just absolutely break the bank on salary, bonuses, travel fees, signing fee, merchandise percentage, aid with housing / realtors, etc? The MLS needs to be careful. The MLS does not need to be the retirement home for players like Robbie Keane and Co. How’s ole Torsten Frings workin’ out in Toronto? Arne Friedrich and Pavel Pardo in Chicago? Unless Raul agrees to some really small salary (because he wants to offer his family another international experience, the chance to live in the USA and have his kids get some schooling here), this is not in the realm of what an expansion club Philly should be doing. A good player surely; wrong price tag. The old NASL failed in part due to this very thing, yes?