If you’re a fan eagerly awaiting that blockbuster trade to drop this summer, you’ve most likely been disappointed as we head into the final week of the secondary transfer window. Most of the recent transactions by MLS teams have consisted of international player signings from overseas. In my opinion, this is not a coincidence.
From my experience, it is difficult to make a summer trade for a top end player in MLS for two reasons:
- Most teams don’t want to part ways with one of their better players and when they do, they will ask for A LOT in return.
- When you weigh the price of such an intra-league trade compared to signing an international player that you have scouted for a lengthy period of time who will be cap friendly (IF they are a DP or a TAM player), then you are probably going to go in the direction of the foreign signing.
Luckily for fans following the comings and goings among MLS teams, there have been plenty of those foreign signings over the last week. Here’s the lowdown on some of the most prominent ones, as well as a few other notes on the week that was in the transfer market:
Miami stick to a familiar strategy
Most people assumed that Inter Miami’s long-awaited first signing would be a big name. However, if you think back to sporting director Paul McDonough’s time in Atlanta and the resounding success they had on the field and with their player recruitment, the first couple of signings have been very similar: Two young attacking South American players from the Argentinian league with plenty of talent and upside (Matias Pellegrini & Julian Carranza for Miami, Miguel Almiron & Hector Villalba for Atlanta). I like this approach as you are getting the exciting talent on the field with a potential return on investment for the owner.
By contrast, Miami’s 2020 expansion counterparts Nashville, led by GM Mike Jacobs, have gone about their business with a more domestic-oriented approach thus far while benefitting from the fact they are not starting from scratch like Inter Miami. On the coaching front, they hired Gary Smith to lead them into MLS. Nashville made a couple of trades to start preparing their squad for next season, acquiring center mid Derrick Jones from Philadelphia and having him on loan for this season and then making a big trade with Columbus for David Accam, who has shown that he can provide offensive production in MLS.
TFC find value with Benezet
Toronto added another winger, Nicolas Benezet, who has experience in both Ligue 1 and 2 in France. He played for Guingamp in Ligue 1 for the last four years, but TFC saw the opportunity to pick him up after his club was relegated at the end of the 2018-19 campaign.
The French leagues have a fair bit of athleticism and physicality which should help Benezet transition into MLS. Taking note of Benezet’s experience in Ligue 2 during parts of his career, I think that there are certain second division leagues in Europe that are good markets due to the prices being more reasonable than some of the first division markets elsewhere and the ability to find quality of players such as Alex Ring of NYCFC, who came from 2. Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern. The key is to have an organized scouting department in place that is constantly monitoring and following these international leagues in order to identify a list of targeted players to keep track of and present to the GMs and coaches before they make their decisions on who to sign.
Orlando find a DP in unexpected market
Mauricio Pereyra (right) made the rare move from Russia to MLS. | Action Images/Reuters
New Orlando City Designated Player Mauricio Pereyra will be tasked with providing his team some creativity, just as he has done in Russia for the better part of seven seasons. In general, Russia has not been a market where MLS GMs traditionally look to for players. The wages that players earn in Russia are on average significantly higher than MLS and this poses a challenge within the salary cap. Russian players typically stay in Russia and play in their domestic league and the foreign players who choose to go to Russia generally make those decisions based on the financial consideration more so than the sporting consideration. The latter point is something for a GM to consider when analyzing a foreign-based player coming from the Russian league.
Lots of ex-clubs – a red flag?
This week, San Jose signed the well-traveled Argentinian forward, Andres Rios. One of the key items that a GM will be looking at when doing their due diligence is the number of clubs a player has played with. The more clubs on the list, the more questions will be asked. The fact that Rios is very familiar with San Jose head coach Matias Almeyda will likely have eased any potential concerns that Quakes GM Jesse Fioranelli might have had. Rios will know what to expect from Almeyda’s training methodology and model of play and this will help ease his transition into the squad.
Clearing the way for Pomykal
FC Dallas loaned out Pablo Aranguiz to Chile’s Union Espanola. He came as a highly touted young talent and was expected to take over the playmaking role vacated by Mauro Diaz. This loan makes sense since Aranguiz was signed in the previous regime (both GM and coach have since been replaced) and because of the emergence and quality of Homegrown Paxton Pomykal. As a GM, when you have an emerging Homegrown talent, you want to open the path for them to gain minutes and keep growing and developing. This type of move demonstrates that.
NYCFC acquire some insurance
NYCFC’s acquisition of Eric Miller is a straightforward deal which is all about depth. Miller is domestic, experienced and versatile as he has played at both fullback positions and can play center back in a pinch. With no real cover for Tinnerholm at right back and with Mattarita and Sweat both dealing with injuries this season, Miller will ease head coach Dome Torrent’s concerns with his fullback depth.
