The Vancouver Whitecaps and New York City FC on Monday announced that forward Omar Salgado will be traded to the expansion team and then transferred to an international club to be named, pending agreement of personal terms, a medical exam, and receipt of Salgado's International Transfer Certificate.
The unique situation comes as a result of MLS roster rules and regulations that stipuate a transfer freeze for non-expansion teams betwen the Sept. 15 Roster Freeze Deadline and Dec. 10 Expansion Draft, and will see Vancouver and NYCFC share a portion of the transfer fee. The Whitecaps will receive future considerations from New York and hold on to Salgado's rights.
“Omar is a good player with potential; however, both the club and Omar agreed that now is the right time to go in another direction and we wish him all the best,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson in a statement.
“The transfer freeze prior to the Expansion Draft made this a unique situation. After exploring a number of options, this was our best move. If we left Omar unprotected in the Expansion Draft, we would have most likely lost him for nothing. Alternatively, we could have used one of our 11 protection spots on him but then we would have risked losing someone else. By orchestrating a pre-trade and transfer, we hold on to future sell-on rights and received allocation money [via transfer fee],” added Robinson.
Salgado, a recent Generation adidas graduate, made 29 career MLS regular season appearances, including 12 starts, with Whitecaps FC after being selected by the club No. 1 in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. This season, after a brief stint with USL PRO side Charleston Battery, Salgado appeared in eight matches with Whitecaps FC in regular season competition.
At the international level, the 21-year-old native of El Paso, Texas, has represented the United States at the Under-17, Under-18, Under-20 and Under-23 levels.
