I hope Insigne leaves on his own accord. He's been completely uninterested since the Chicago game.Originally Posted by leedsandTFC
I hope Insigne leaves on his own accord. He's been completely uninterested since the Chicago game.
i feel the same way, been bad.
if his contract does go down significantly next season (which is in line with past MLSE contracts that are frontloaded) he will be far easier to move.
considering how the lack of depth has been exposed savagely in the last month, there needs to be major moves this month.
3/4 in, 3/4 out. at least 2 starters. maybe 3.
Herdman saying there are moves lined up and ready to go when the transfer window opens.
Herdman has had a tendency to promise a bit too much in terms of time frame when it comes to transfers. If they actually do have guys already signed, they are allowed to announce it ahead of the 18th. They just can't play until the 18th.
They could announce it now but everything they do is based on PR and advertising so they'd probably want to maximize whatever they can get out of it by announcing it closer to League's Cup and also after the Copa/Euros finish. Even moreso if any of the players coming in were rostered in either tournament.
I've found since Herdmann has come they've done no rumours or pre warning of any signing.
Richie coming back came out of nowhere, they kept that secret for awhile.
I think Mailula will be happy to leave so a mutual term is probable. I don't think he has any interest in parking on a bench for another 4 years.
But I also think he will generate interest from African leagues
(Egypt interested & there's always the middle East) He's performed well in their champions league version so he has value in that part of the world.
Buyouts are primarily for guys who won't mutually term.
If he doesn't play Wednesday I think it's a good sign something is lined up for him already as they don't want to risk an injury.
Good point.
Did you see Atlanta is getting a sell-on from Barco, plus the $11m owed, plus selling Caleb Wiley to Barca? Throw in the Almada deal and Giakoumakis and they recouped $50M in about 10 days.
They have a lot to work with this window.
mailulas on until 26 with an option for 27 according to the release when he was signed
regardless its clear that hes not good enough...and its clear to herdman too as even when the team was short and even in the last couple blowouts herdman said no thanks he can stay on the bench...he has 17 league minutes
so it has nothing to do with wednesday...wednesday they have to go out with their best lineup because their only chance to win a trophy this year is in the voyageurs and because they badly need a win for the morale and regain a belief that they can turn it around
you cant play a ton of backups wednesday...you only send out backups because of the minimum of canadians starting rule...otherwise you absolutely have to send out your best...dont forget what forge did with an out of form montreal...drew them in hamilton and defeated them at saputo
do you think there's no chance that insigne is moved after this season?
hernandez saying there was a spot for a new DP in 2025 could be insigne's salary decreasing a lot in 2025, hence more budget (would fit with MLSE frontloading contracts a lot to get guys in the door).
Pretty sure the DP slot opening up is Richie's contract.
Insigne isn't going anywhere and no way he has a contract that goes below DP level in any year.
More likely scenario - internal team belief that with the right horses, Insigne comes good.
I've been saying for years the strategy of buying players with resale value will ultimately provide far more return than the one or spending your money on contracts you then can't even give away for free. Atlanta end up with an awful lot of flexibility by doing their, and their effective spend on their roster is a fraction of what ours is.
But those signings don't provide fan service when announced I suppose.
External team belief is that Insigne will drag those right horses down with him and when this belief fails it better lead to a cascade of internal job openings.
i'd rather go the columbus route: players in their primes now who aren't top level european players but are in MLS. was very envious when they signed cucho.
atlanta have flexibility now, but who is to say they won't spend it on even more promising young players who they may recoup $$ from one day as opposed to winning players.
He's already played him twice in this tournament and he has two goals in those games. Yeah, against semi-pro teams so maybe that'll factor. But he might think Mailula, while not at MLS level, is sure as heck above CPL level.
As poor as the discipline and defending can be, the South African league is still well above the CPL, and he scored 15 goals in a season there.
But you're right with respect to telling whether he's being traded because he might just hold him out for competitive reasons, to be sure of a lead going into the second leg.
That's not my sense from talking to people there. More like, "he's a huge talent but clearly slowed down and injury affected, so manage his minutes and get what we can out of him."
If they could get out of that deal, they'd have done it already. I suspect like most teams they're praying the suggested new transfer flexibility next year will include unlimited buyouts.
I could be wrong but I believe it's still $15M next year as well. He only has six months of contract in 2026, it expires in July. So that season he'll be gone in the middle window unless they choose to eat $6.25M at the start of the year.
I highly doubt any of that is going to happen. I think they'll manage his minutes. Against strong opponents like Columbus, Cincy, Miami they'll leave him as an impact sub, for when he can stay ahead of the pace, and for weaker opponents, they'll limit him to 60-66 minutes to prevent risk of injury.
That probably gives them their best chance of getting statistical results out of him. That's the only way he moves, if someone in Saudi or Qatar sees a run of goals and assists and wants an impact player quickly. He's off the pace of the top leagues now, so that's literally our only option. (Short of doing shit off the books. Wouldn't be the first time in this league or town, but increasingly fraught with potential for trouble.)
Richie's only a DP because of his transfer fee. His salary is at the TAM limit. So we get that slot back next year.
But it means we're not getting DP-level players at this window. TAM level maybe, as they can defer heavier salary portions to other contract years to keep us under the cap this season.
Given Herdman's obvious preference for English players, likely due to contacts and fundamentals, I suspect they'll go for free agents who have pedigree, like Long. Maybe older, but can get us competitive again for this season. Like Long, I'd expect one-and-one type deals.
I know they were looking at players in South America and Central America as well, though, so who knows, maybe they'll find a gem. Doesn't usually work, though, taking crapshoots on the unknown.
Last edited by jloome; 07-09-2024 at 09:44 AM.
the one league that could take him other than qatar/ saudi is turkey. the big clubs pay very high wages and they have done to aging stars of his ilk. he'd still be a very good player in that league too.
has the 15 mill year next year been reported anywhere? if so, bill has done even worse than we thought.
15 million to a 34 year old insigne when he wasn't even playing 90 mins at age 30.
deary me.
we can only pray that's wrong. if it goes to 7-10 million then we could definitely move him in january (free transfer).
Yeah, for sure. It doesn't have to be the buy young approach. Columbus players still have resale value on the open market, that alone gives them flexibility. They have an option at striking gold and making alot of money, but outside of that, they have flexibility and can move players on if needed and any money they bring in offsets their spend. Even if they make a loss on the player, that's fine, it's an offset loss rather than a total one. Having that option allows you to operate on a higher budget at the cost of a lower one.
Definitely not saying we should buy young South Americans only, just I think buying players whose market value isn't less than 0 - like our two big DPs - is almost certainly going to be the best approach. Columbus have a great approach and the easiest to replicate
Capology isn't always right but it has him at $7.5M for each of the next two years.
But his overall owed at $22.5M. So there's $7.5M in guaranteed bonus or sponsor money in there somewhere.
Highly unlikely we shed him, as the new team wouldn't pick up anything that wasn't in his playing contract, and he's not going to give up $7.5M in sponsor cash.
could capology be including the 2nd half of this year? that's like 7.5 mill right there, meaning he'd be owed 15 mill over he next 18 months.
not sure how accurate that is anyways. i guess we'll just have to wait and see.
find it hard to see us being a contender til we shed ourselves of that contract, sadly (if it's 15 mill PA for next 2 years).
Last edited by leedsandTFC; 07-09-2024 at 11:51 AM.
Our first team is pretty competitive with or without him, when they're all healthy. Throw Richie and Oso in and it's a major stabilizing factor.
But our depth is the issue as no team can run the same starters regularly in this league.
We can, over the next 18 months, replace most of them.
So it's really down to who they get, whether they've created enough cap space to sign TAM level players or at least decently paid starters. We got Long on a song because he's near retirement and wanted to play in Toronto. We got Gomis cheap because he was unattached and no one else had bitten.
But they won't always land deals and both have downsides; Long is 33 and one a one-and-one, and if I were him after this year, probably wouldn't come back without a decent raise, as his money is insultingly low for a starting centre half. And Gomis is still developing, despite tons of talent. If he comes good, we'll likely lose him quickly, although maybe we'll get a transfer fee.
I expect them to go for value because ideally, they need three or four players right now. I don't think they can squeeze two-and-a-TAM under what they have left, but I could be wrong.
I will say I think there's a difference between being competitive and being contenders. Our first team is competitive, but it's not a contender for the cup. The goal for me, unless we are gutting our budget, has to be contenders. I think we've alot of players to shed even on the first team if that is the goal.
But do agree, squad depth is the issue absolutely plaguing us right now.
what's so frustrating is that for 15 mill, you can get an MVP calibre ST and an MVP calibre CAM... the opportunity lost is killing me.
Realistically if have good recruitment you should be able to get 3 high quality DPs and a U22 or two for $15M. Other teams manage it.
Interesting...that seems a mindset change from back in May.
so does our window open the 12th? seen some conflicting reports on this.
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