Just when you thought the Kenny Cooper to Europe saga was coming to a close, now there is word out of Dallas that FC Dallas is set to keep Cooper and have rejected a $4 million offer from Cardiff City and $3 million offer from Rosenborg.
According to sources with knowledge of the discussions, FC Dallas ownership has decided to hold on to Cooper with the hopes of not only helping FC Dallas make a playoff push, but also with the hope being that he continues his torrid pace and draws an even bigger transfer offer this winter.
The development comes as word surfaced on Tuesday that Rosenborg had offered Cooper a contract that could have made him more than $1 million in the first season alone. Sources had told SBI on Monday that Cooper’s representatives were in discussions with Cardiff City and were close to an agreement, but FC Dallas’ decision to keep Cooper has shelved those plans.
What next? There is talk of Cooper and FC Dallas working on a new contract, but you would imgine that there will be some agreement worked in that would ensure Cooper’s ability to move to Europe if a big offer came this winter.
What does it all mean? Could it be FC Dallas’ attempt to raise the stakes and get more money out of Rosenborg and Cardiff City? Or could Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing of Los Angeles have the Hoops thinking about the playoffs and more?
What do you think of the latest development? Do you think FC Dallas is smart to hold on to Cooper? Do you think Cooper should stick around the rest of the season and test the European waters this winter? Is the Cooper transfer saga rivaling the Brett Favre unretirement for most long and drawn-out story?
Share your thoughts below.
Jay, I agree. At this point, the guys who are signing up without the clauses are ambitionless
The MLS is a joke. If I were a player with European aspirations, I would never consider signing a deal without a buyout clause, or a clause demanding automatic release based on the amount offered. Joseph, Twellman, Cooper, and others I’m sure will be screwed on this, and it can’t send a positive message to young players thinking about signing with the league.
My point exactly BJR. Cooper has been sold a bill of goods, and maybe he should get a new agent to boot.
While we’d all like to see MLS surpass lower level Euro leagues in terms of quality and prestige, that simply will never, ever happen if MLS continues to pay laughable wages. Look at the exodus of players to the Scandanavian leagues. Is the level of soccer better? No, but those clubs offer the players salaries far in excess of what MLS is willing to pay, plus they also freely own up to their “feeder league” status. Going there offers financial security plus easier access to the truly elite leagues (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A clubs all go shopping up North for talent). If MLS were ever to open up its collective eyes and wallets, then maybe we’d have a league worth calling “Major.” As it is, I’ll continue watching because it still beats the USL.
Brett,
This is how it is unfair: (Per 3rd degree)
“We’ve also also heard the story about how Cooper signed for a cheap number *with the alleged promise from Lamar Hunt that a larger contract would be forthcoming if he excelled here*. Unfortunately Lamar has since passed and with Cooper’s broken leg last year, the powers of FCD (Hitch, Hunts kids, and/or Morrow) decided to just maintain Cooper’s option as is.”
In 2006 Cooper scored 11 goals, tied with Ching, Twellman, DDR, and Moreno. In 2007 he was injured but posted 4 goals in his first 8 games. This year he has 11 goals in 18 games. All of this for 83k a year? Give me a break.
Pony up Dallas. Cheap bastards!
(a) How in the world is MLS ‘bush league’ for not selling Dallas’ best player, top scorer, and rising young star IN MID SEASON to a lower level Welsh team?
(b) Dallas is 5 points out of first in the West with a game in hand. A two game win streak could put them on top of the West. This is MLS – there’s no such thing as a ‘transition year.’
(c) He’s only 23 and his value after this season ends is likely to be the same or increased, which could land him at a bigger club for more money.
(d) Word is that, even out injured, Twellman is still worth $3M to Preston North End six months later. Although I thought MLS should have let Twellman go when he was desperate to leave last off season, this is different for the reasons stated above.
It makes sense from the Dallas’ point of view. Proven asset, likely to help in a playoff push, happy with his coach. Why not hang onto him if you think he’ll still be getting similar or better offers come the winter transfer window? For the same reasons, it makes sense for MLS in the short term.
But.
This just yet again reminds all MLS players and potential MLS players that whenever possible MLS and its teams will generally go out of their way to sign and hold players to contracts that pay way under what players could earn in second-tier European leagues. Smart players will therefore start insisting on escape clauses and/or shorter deals or avoiding the league entirely. Which is bad for MLS.
In the medium term, MLS’ best hope for attracting talented young players is to be a feeder league. And to do that, you have to sell when teams come with reasonable offers.
Count me among the silent majority of fans who just want to see some good players playing in MLS games. If that means keeping Cooper and Twellman against their wishes until their contracts run out, so be it.
I look forward to the day when it isn’t seen as a step up for U.S. players to leave MLS to play in the Coca Cola Championship or in Norway or Denmark or Austria or Belgium or Portugal or any other country or league that isn’t the highest flight.
If MLS ever has aspirations of winning over fans and growing to be in the top 10 leagues in the world, it can’t just keep selling every time it gets a good player.
Mike-i was rooting for Cooper to go abroad, but i can even stand by the point and ask “how is it unfair”??
it was in fact Cooper who signed a contract for that amount… he knew what he was playing for… i feel for the guy, making more to play his trade in leagues superior to the MLS would be good for his career, but again, while he’s under contract he doesnt have much of an option…
the league and team will trade him if the offer is good enough…. same can be said in any league….players aiming to make a transfer are rejected if the deal isnt worth while…
for example… C.Ronaldo and Real Madrid’s bid… seemed over the top, but ManU rejected it… Why?? b/c C.Ronaldo signed a long contract and he’s worth more to United then the $$ and/or other player(s) madrid was willing to dish
This is entirely unfair to Cooper (and me, I dropped him from my fantasy squad). He’s making in the nieghborhood on $100k per year here, and he has an offer on the table to increase that by more than 1000%. The league either needs to pay players wages that reflect their true worth in the worldwide market, or they need to be resigned to selling their top talent when Europe comes a callin’. $4,000,000 for a young American striker with only 1 cap to his name seems more than fair. Maybe he and Taylor Twellman should go pay a “friendly visit” to Garber, Gazidis, Hunt et al. La plata or el plomo, putos.
Great move. I’ll pull a little harder for Cooper and for FCD to make this move be a genius one in a few months. I hope they do well in the playoffs and he’s the reason why, giving them a better season and him a better paycheck and playing opportunity.
Pablonius – he could figure well, as long as Bob Arena isnt still coaching the team.
groovester – yes, thats the way to up your value abroad… throw a tantrum and stomp your feet… yes, another half of a season without the likes of a goal and the failure of his team seems to do wonders…
Ives for the next post on Cooper could you put a P.S. at the bottom and tell those poeple that don’t already know that his father is english, i.e. work permit issues do not apply. This is the 4 article and people are still asking
And don’t forget Cooper’s Dallas pedigree. His dad, Kenny Cooper, played for the NASL’s Dallas Tornado. It’s in the league’s best interest to hold on to players like Twellman & Cooper because of their DNA link in the otherwise inconsequential history of soccer in America. Also, a nice performance in the 2010 World Cup on a US squad packed with MLS players would really polish our league’s image in the rest of the world. Cooper could figure well on that squad.
groovester — “Personally, if I was Cooper I wouldn’t be putting out 100% anymore”
I’m glad you aren’t Cooper.
Use the Force (a trade) Kenneth …
Smart move, Dallas. Finally someone in MLS does the reasonable thing and thinks about winning some games rather than making a quick buck.
honestly, if Cooper nets home a 20+ season, then id see his transfer jumping up to a possible 5, maybe 6 depending on what team(s) are hitting up for him…
if he gets no nibbles cept from the teams he’s already getting looks at, then i dont see it going up any..
A.S- didnt you ask this in the last thread??? he already has duel-citizenship…
My team, FC Dallas, has dropped the ball on this. His transfer price is not going to increase much between now and the winter transfer period. Super Cooper should have jumped ship. There is no way FC Dallas will be able to compete for the MLS Cup this season as they are a team in transition. The FC Dallas front office is thinking a little too much of our recent win against LA.
I just hope Cooper can stay healthy until the winter break, otherwise there will be no transfer for him period.
A collective sigh of relief has just topped the skyline here in Dallas.
Though I would agree this is typical of the MLS and further more of FCD. We saw two players leave before the season started because of empty/broken promises from the front office and now we saw Cooper be granted talks of personel terms and then get the transfer rejected right after…
“but also with the hope being that he continues his torrid pace and draws an even bigger transfer offer this winter”
Yikes. A bird in the hand… you know, fellas?
BTW, Ives, is it assured that Cooper could get a work permit? He hasn’t played many games for the national team. Why isn’t this a Guzan situation (circa a year ago)? Is that not an issue because of his prior relationship to ManU?
Yusef-and you’ll be missed… go support the euro leagues if you find supporting the MLS such a bother….
Does anyone here actually have any executive, financial, or leadership position or experience? I tell you, I would love to work for (or with) some of the posters here.
$4 million for Kenny Cooper??? Some are saying that’s a WEAK offer?? Not sure what everyone’s smoking. The guy is a nice player, but, let’s face it, he lacks the pace to be successful in an elite league. That’s why his USMNT callups have been few and far between. He should avoid the premiership like the plague. He’ll be stuck behind someone else and never get any pt.
Dallas needs to pay Cooper in the vicinity of $1 million to compensate him for not selling him; Maybe pro-rated for the rest of the season (like a $500k bonus). Otherwise I wouldn’t be surprised if he stops producing all together.
There should also be some type of escalation clause triggered after 6 months to keep him motivated and to allow him to leave if Dallas doesn’t want to meet the raised salary.
It doesn’t make sense for Dallas to lose their best player (with no replacement) at this point in the season. For them this a good, smart move.
In general I’m a fan of players moving abroad if they are out of contract or if MLS receives a suitable transfer amount for them. I’m realistic that anything above $1M is pretty good value in MLS considering payrolls are well under $3 Million per year.
Every situation is different, so it’s tough to compare Cooper to Twellman. Cooper is much younger and always has the chance to go to England without work permit problems. Twellman does not as he hasn’t played for the national team for a while (mostly due to injury). If he were to try and move again in December, he might not have the necessary national team appearances to qualify for a work permit.
The methodology for expansion, irrelevance of the regular season with too many playoff teams and lack of relegation, the departure of altidore, the relocation of San Jose, manipulation of the league to get certain players in certain markets, and refusal of the league to let players fulfill their dreams in Europe have completely turned this once proud fan off of MLS. Thank goodness the European season starts soon!
Hang on, we were led to believe that if we met the MLS valuation it had nothing to do with FC Dallas and was up to the player to agree persona, terms – is that incorrect? If its not incorrect, how can the decision be FC Dallas decision to make?
I have a vested interest as I’d like to see him come to our club, but I think you are being naive if you think someone will pay 6 million in January.
I just dropped off of my fantasy team. Damn.
I thought the two offers for him seemed a bit weak…He was just starting to show something after coming off injuries. If he plays like this for the rest of the year, for sure he will get better offers from bigger clubs, and Dallas can make more money off of him. He is young…
Sounds like good enough rationale. Let’s not talk about another injury. Let’s hope even though he’s still in the MLS BB will remember him come WCQ.
I’d say its a really smart move. Dallas is helping their playoff push while potentially boosting Coopers value.
He’ll sell for much more in the Jan. window; besides, he says he likes it in Dallas (for now).
Plus everyone will know he’s off to Europe in January, versus dealing with this transfer uncertainty that is swirling now…
not again
baaah, this makes all the sense in the world… while i was one who would love to see cooper go abroad, i see the sense in this…
Cooper will continue to grow his stock… 11 goals in 1 game over half way could see him on the track of having a 20+ goal season…
either way, he’ll continue to grow his stock…
Coop seems to like his new coach in Dallas, and has played well.
I think, at 23, if he continues his pace this year and FINALLY gets some caps under Bradley, he’ll be getting looks from clubs in the Prem, Bundesliga, etc. not the Championship and Norway.
Still – if he wants to go, he should be allowed to. With one caveat – if his current owners feel he is being undervalued (which, I suspect, is the case), they should work to get maximum value for him.
Once again the MLS has proven themselves to be small time players on the world scene. What if Cooper gets injured again like last year? There will be no big money offers coming in if that happens. This leaves a whole lot to chance and if I were Cooper I would hold out until the team transfers him. This type of thing drives me crazy about the MLS!
i wonder how much MLS rules factor into this. Due to the fact that if they sell him for decent money like 4mil that they can only replace him with a guy who makes like 200k and not use that sales money to try and get a more similar replacement.
I need him for my Fantasy team anyway.
Good for FC Dallas. Cooper is essential to their team this year (more so than Twellman was to the Revs last year). Considering the race in the west is so close this year, they may get into some tournaments and advance in the playoffs with Cooper.
Plus, I like to see good US players go to Europe, but I am tired of seeing them go to chump teams (I know Rosenborg goes to CL a lot, but lets face it, the league in Norway is still not a major league). I think Cooper is good enough to land in a better league with a better team.
i think he should stay a little longer, and if he can keep up this pace their surely will be a better team to offer more money smart move
Fantastic.
I think if Kenny goes in the off-season, he can command at least $6m. Especially if FCD come up with an improved contract, that would have a clause.
+1 to the MLS Bush League comment
Who runs that sheety club? I can’t take it anymore.Idiots.
As much as I want to see Cooper achieve his European ambitions, as a fan of the league I would love to see him stay around a little longer. Hes class on and off the pitch, and MLS is lucky to have him.
wow, cooper must be pissed.
Gotta feel for the guy. His reps would not be talking to the teams unless MLS/Dallas had already gone far enough into the transfer process to give their blessing. So for MLS/Dallas to now pull back is a bit insincere – likely well within their right – but it’s bordering on bush-league front office shenanigans.
My impression is that Cooper doesn’t know what he wants to do.
I think some players need to start employing NFL tactics and hold out or come up with hamstring “injuries.” Personally, if I was Cooper I wouldn’t be putting out 100% anymore, but hey that’s just me and I’m not really a team player type of guy.