Catching Up With The FC

Grayson Chalmers

If you’re anything like me, you’re fully up to date on the status of everything FC. But if you’re anything like Knifey Lion Radio’s Jonah – who learned on the latest PostCast that, to his surprise, Geoff Cameron is currently out of contract – you’ve probably been too busy motorboating the twin distractions of the World Cup and the Bengals’ playoff push to lift your head up and look at the MLS transfer tracker.

This article is for those horny folks who are ready for another round after they took that cold shower after the World Cup final and aren’t satisfied with just edging up to the Bengals’ first home playoff game.

So, what’s new?

A lot!

Such as?

Can you ask a specific question?

Seems like the team was pretty good last year. They just running it back?

Not quite. The FC declined contract options on Tyler Blackett, Zico Bailey, Geoff Cameron, Allan Cruz, Ronald Matarrita, Nick Markanich, Ben Mines, and Beckham Sunderland.

Also, St. Louis took Johnny Nelson in the Expansion Draft.

And the FC traded Calvin Harris to Colorado for some Tricky Don Fun Bucks.

And Isaac Atanga is still in Turkey.

And finally, Kenneth Vermeer is in the Netherlands for some reason and no one knows if he’s still under contract or not.

I recognize some of those names! Any of them have a chance of coming back?

I don’t know, maybe? Clearly the team would have liked to have Johnny Nelson back, and we still have holes to fill at left back and center back. Matarrita (left back) and Cameron (center back) still haven’t signed with new teams, so maybe there’s an outside shot one or both of them returns.

But I wouldn’t count on it.

Any new players in the team yet?

Yup!

The big signing of the offseason is Marco Angulo, a central midfielder who just burst on the scene in Ecuador. He’s only 20 years old, but he started and played 80 minutes to help his old club team win the Copa Sudamericana this summer, and he was deemed good enough to be the first alternate for Ecuador at the World Cup even though he had only played a total of 45 minutes with the senior team.

Fifteen-year-old Stiven Jimenez signed a homegrown deal. He’s one for the future, but he seems to have a bright one. He already has experience training with the big boys, and he’s appeared for youth national teams for both the United States and Mexico.

Evan Louro was technically (and factually) signed last season, but you never saw him unless you watched some 2-team games. He’s played mostly in USL, but he has a good reputation and has received some awards down there. Still, expect him to be well behind Celentano and Kann and once again featuring mostly with FCC2.

And finally, we have the SuperDraft. We picked up a Generation Adidas center back in the first round (Joey Akpunonu), some goalkeeping depth in the second round (Hunter Morris), and another center back in the third (London Aghedo). Who knows if these guys are going to be any good, but MLS Soccer dot com gave our draft an “A” and that’s really what it’s all about anyway, right?

Hmm. That doesn’t seem like it’s enough. Any rumors out there?

Um, kinda. In no particular order:

Reports out of Africa linked us to Gladson Awako, an attacking midfielder for Hearts of Oak. Awako, however, is in his 30s and already played a couple of unproductive years in USL in the last decade. I don’t see anything attractive about this potential signing, so I’m labeling it FAKE NEWS.

We were also recently linked to another Hearts of Oak player, but this one made slightly more sense. Daniel Afriyieh Barnieh is a 21-year-old attacker who, although young and still playing in his domestic league, was called up for the World Cup. A young player good enough for Ghana’s top roster would seem like good value, but there’s a catch: The report said that we already offered $500k for him, but from what I can tell he might already be out of contract (or imminently about to be out of contract). So, this one has the hallmarks of someone trying to plant rumors to increase a player’s value in either contract negotiations or on the transfer market, which makes it FAKE NEWS (probably).

Uh, there was also some buzz on social media that FC came to terms with Paulo Henrique, a Brazilian who has played mainly at right winger and a little at right back, before he was lured away by Atletico Mineiro. This one was interesting because the FC is widely thought to be looking for a starting right back. However, per Transfermarkt, Henrique played only eight games and 647 minutes at right back last year, and his team finished dead last in the Brazilian Serie A. FC already has two “reserve” right backs on the roster, and this guy doesn’t seem clearly ahead of Powell and Gaddis. My assumption (which I will hold until proven otherwise) is that the FC is looking for a nailed-on starter at RB, or at least a clear favorite in preseason, and not simply someone to throw in as “competition.” Therefore, I am sorry to report that I think the Paulo Henrique rumor was FAKE NEWS.

Earlier in December, a Turkish journalist reported that both the FC and Charlotte FC were interested in Musa Sahindere, a 20-year-old left back playing for Genclerbirligi in the Turkish second division (which, in typical soccer fashion, is called the TFF First League). I’ll say this for Musa – he was starting every game for his team until he picked up an injury. Unfortunately, his team has lost every single game that he has missed, and it currently sits in last place and likely to be relegated. It would not be surprising, then, if the team was looking to sell its young players for a quick cash infusion. Left back is a position of need for the FC – it needs a backup, at least, and maybe a starter if either Alvaro Barreal isn’t the long-term solution or Noonan really, really wants to switch to a back four. On the other hand, a rumored transfer fee of $1.5 million feels a little rich for an unproven player on the worst team in Turkey’s second division (which, for the sake of argument, I’m going to assume is USL level or worse). That is three times the rumored fee for Daniel Barnieh (an attacking player, and already a full Ghanaian international) and close to what the FC paid for Alvaro Barreal (an Argentine youth international who was a first-team player for a big team in Argentina). At that price, Musa would almost certainly require a U-22 slot, and the FC has only one left at the most (depending on Atanga’s status and, I suppose, barring an unexpected Barreal departure). And finally, there is the problem that multiple MLS teams were supposedly in pursuit – league rules are designed to bar this exact thing, and any time a rumor involves an international chase by multiple MLS teams it is probably not real. Therefore, based on the totality of the circumstances, I am calling Musa Sahindere FAKE NEWS.

(A disclaimer to all of the above is that I do not know anything about the Ghanaian league or the Turkish second division, and I know barely anything about the Brazilian league. And I’d be skeptical of anyone else claiming otherwise, unless they were specifically Ghanaian, Turkish, or Brazilian.)

Oh, one more hilarious one. Omar Ellabdelaoui, a Norwegian right back who most recently played for Galatasaray, was apparently claiming that the FC offered him a four million Euro designated player deal, which he says he rejected to sign for Bodo/Glimt in his native country. The problem with that is the FC does not currently have any DP spots open, and if it were to sell Brenner it would not be replacing him with a right back. In fact, I would venture to guess that Chris Albright has no intention of using a DP slot on a right back at any point in his career. Therefore, and say it with me, FAKE NEWS

Um, what else?

Well, it was confirmed that we spoke to Matt Hedges, a free agent center back, and actually made him an offer. So that was REAL NEWS… But he signed with Toronto instead, so he sucks and we hate him now.

There are a number of free agents out there still, and you should go ahead and assume that the FC is looking at those guys, as well as opportunities for trades within the league.

Uh… oh! Someone was by the stadium one day and they thought they saw “Welcome, Tiago” on the screen. But it might have been “Welcome, Trivago,” because there was some kind of travel industry convention in town that day. So who knows.

So there’s still a lot to do?

Yeah, I mean, you look at the team and ideally we would bring in at least a starting right back, starting center back, left back depth (or a starter for a back four), and maybe another midfielder? But the good news is we have a lot of roster space and, reportedly, a lot of Don’s Fun Bucks to work with. So we could fill all of those spots and still have a couple roster spots and budget flexibility for summer additions.

OK. That seems reasonable.

Yeah, but the plan might blow up a bit if Brandon Vazquez is sold this window.

Wait, what? Wasn’t he like the best player?

Depends on who you ask, but he did score the most goals.

And we’re trying to get rid of him?

That’s kind of how it goes. We know the FC rejected a $7 million bid from Chivas de Guadalajara, and in the last few days there have been rumors that Standard Liege in Belgium is also interested. Liege would be a little harder to turn down, as they are a big club in Belgium that is a potential springboard to a top league. They are currently coached by Ronny Deila, who coached NYCFC before that, and they are American-owned.

Oh so he’s going.

Not necessarily. He would be an unprecedented, or at least barely precedented, signing for Liege at $7 million or more, which is a team that is better known for bringing in younger, cheaper players and developing them to sell at a profit down the line. But maybe new ownership is interested in tweaking that model a bit.

If I were betting on it, I’d say that if Brandon leaves this winter, it will not be to Chivas or Liege. He recently signed a new contract with the FC, and I’m assuming that part of those negotiations included an understanding between Albright and Brandon regarding what circumstances made the most sense for a transfer. And none of the rumors that I’ve seen seem to fit what I imagine those circumstances to be. Chivas would at most be a lateral step (and probably a step back) on Brandon’s path to a top European league, and Liege is simply unlikely to offer the kind of money that FC is looking for. More likely, Brandon will come back, continue balling out, and play his way into big money either in the Summer or next Winter.

FC is not desperate to sell, and it is clear that the team is more likely to end the season holding MLS Cup with Brandon than without him.

Wait, really? We finished last place three years in a row and you’re talking about MLS Cup already?

That’s right. Last year’s team experienced a lot of turnover in key positions, and the cobbled-together spine wasn’t completed until late summer. In addition, Brenner effectively missed the first few months of the season due to visa issues and back problems, and he still scored 18 goals. Noonan faced the daunting challenge of both implementing a new system and getting unfamiliar players to work well together. By the end of the season, the FC had the best front three in MLS, a defensive stalwart in Matt Miazga, a midfield anchor in Obi Nwobodo, and playmakers all over the field. The guys proved they could hang with anyone in MLS.

With a full offseason together, we should absolutely expect them to be one of the favorites to win the league.

So yeah, there will be some more players in, and maybe a player or two out. And those things are fun to follow. But if there’s one thing you should take away from this article, it’s this: This season should be fun as hell.