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Cardiff City not giving up on Cooper

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Just when you thought it was safe to buy your Kenny Cooper FC Dallas jersey comes word out of the UK that Cardiff City manager Dave Jones has not given up in his pursuit of Cooper despite FC Dallas declaring that it would not sell Cooper this season.

"It has been made a little bit more difficult because we are dealing far away with the MLS. But is it dead and buried? No, it is not dead and buried yet," Jones told Welsh tabloid The Western Mail on Thursday. "I did not even know it was supposed to be dead and buried until you told me."

Apparently Jones didn’t get the memo from FC Dallas general manager Michael Hitchcock, who was emphatic in the club’s desire to keep Cooper through the rest of this season.

Talk about things getting interesting. Now Dallas could find itself in a sticky situation if Cardiff improves considerably in its $4 million offer. If Cardiff comes back with a $5 or $6 million bid would the Hoops really turn that down? And more importantly, how bad will the team look selling Cooper after giving fans the "Our focus is winning" line after initially turning down offers from Cardiff and Rosenborg?

As for Cardiff, Jones sounds like he thought Cooper was on his way before interest from multiple teams turned the Cooper chase into a circus.

"With Kenny Cooper everything was quiet, moving along nicely and suddenly all hell breaks loose and other clubs are alerted," Jones said. "It became a major stumbling block because other clubs made enquiries and why is a player then not going to listen to those?"

The same questions remain. Should FC Dallas sell Cooper if a $5 to $6 million bid comes in? Would Cooper be better off leaving now or staying in MLS until the winter transfer window? Is Cardiff City the best place for him?

What do I think? I think a $5 million bid would be extremely tough to turn down and I also think that size a bid would bode well for Cooper’s standing at Cardiff. I doubt many Coca Cola Championship clubs are spending that kind of money on reserve forwards (heck, there are several EPL teams that wouldn’t spend that on a reserve forward).

If I’m Cooper I’m demanding an immediate pay increase and he could honestly make a good case for deserving a bump to designated player status at least for the remainder of this season (considering Duilio Davino makes about five times what Cooper makes something should have been done in this area well before the transfer circus).

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

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Comments

  1. Isn’t Cooper eligible for bosman this winter? So after the season finishes, he can buy out the remaining year or two of his contract and move abroad for free? I thought this was the case. If I was Cooper, I would sign a pre-agreement with some team and join them in January.

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  2. I’m rooting for him to get there, for nt purposes, but I can understand Dallas keeping him. Either way, he needs call ups. We need him to get call ups.

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  3. As a FC Dallas fan, I want him to stay. As a Cooperstien fan I want the best for him so that he can get some National team time.

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  4. I forgot about the previous Man U. situation. But the Home Office rules on work permits are convoluted enough. I didn’t know that the American born and citizen son of an Englishman is exempt from the work permit rigarole.

    Good to know.

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  5. Do you guys have any idea how far 5-6 million will go for the MLS? They have to take this offer especially after getting hurt so bad with the Guzan deal. They lost 2.5 million on that one.

    Cooper is perfect for the CCC and would score goals immediately. Very much like Kenwayne Jones did when he was there. The USMNT needs him to move and start playing there. Can you imagine Altidore and Cooper as a pairing once matured….

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  6. Not to get too off topic, but no way I’m trading both Moor and McCarty to LAG for Ruiz. Too much of a circus surrounding that dude for that price.

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  7. Silent E, I couldn’t agree more. MLS is such a joke with their policies that discourage teams from developing, acquiring and selling high-level talent. Red Bull NY/Metrostars spent large sums of money to develop a talent like Jozy, he’s sold for the highest transfer fee ever, and RBNY gets practically nothing. Nothing but hassles and restrictions regarding who they can and can’t sign, that is. They’re not even allowed to sign the players they spend their own money developing. It’s like they WANT the league to develop mediocre players, at best. There’s no reward, only punishment, for acquiring and developing excellence. T

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  8. if the deal is up’ed i would do it…

    it’ll be great for FCD, the MLS and Cardiff

    i agree i dont see them dropping that cash for a bench warmer… they are looking for a forward to come in and get it done…. Cooper fits the role to a T…

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  9. I think it is harder to join a team in the January transfer window. He should go now.

    My question is, who has the leverage? FC Dallas or MLS? Is it in the interest of MLS to sell him, since they own the contract?

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  10. Moor AND McCarty for Ruiz?

    From my seat in Section 116 at the Oven, I haven’t seen the 10m platform. Maybe I missed it…

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  11. @sublicon,

    My man, if you’re really thinking that EJ and Cooper are equals you need to go back to the remedial class.

    They are not.

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  12. Probably best for the league to hold off until the season’s over. I know we’re a feeder league, but winning is still important. Unless, they sell him and take Ruiz off the Galaxy’s hands for Drew Moor and Dax McCarty.

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  13. I think the real issue is one of what happens to the transfer fees. The fact that Dallas, like RBNY before them, would see only a small percentage of a significant transfer fee changes the economics of the situation and makes the argument that “Dallas couldn’t afford to ignore a higher offer” invalid.

    One has to wonder whether MLS could step in to force a transfer out to benefit the league as a whole, much as they’ve done in the past for required trades, such as that which brought Luis Hernandez to LA or McBride to the Fire.

    To me, the interesting part is that this seems to be the biggest yet challenge to the issue of single entity. Let’s face it, MLS needs to be a selling league, just like almost every other league in the world. There’s no shame in that. But the current rules don’t encourage individual clubs in MLS to sell their players. What happens if, at some point, the league receives an offer to good to refuse, but the club refuses? Interesting, to say the least.

    Another potential change I see in the future is that Cooper’s situation, along with Twellman’s and Joseph’s, will see the introduction of clauses in contracts regarding transfers. While this might be good for the players, it’s not necessarily good for the league, because it could lead to players being sold for below their market value. For example, let’s say player X would be worth $6 million on the open market, but his contract says that St. Louis Archers FC has to sell him if they receive any offers above $2 million. The club/league could be out $4 million.

    As MLS gains more stature in the world, and consequently the world market for players, these issues will need to be addressed, and soon.

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  14. While I’d love to see Cooper make the move back to Britain, Dallas and the MLS are well within their rights to keep him until the end of the season. This is the same thing happening with Ronaldo/Utd/Real. When a player puts his signature on the dotted line he is obligated to uphold his end of the bargain. Otherwise the contract isn’t worth the paper its written on.

    Deals should only happen when they make sense for everyone involved. This one doesn’t make sense for the MLS or Dallas. MLS can’t keep selling its top players (i.e. Altidore). Hopefully, the MLS is now financially stable enough that it doesn’t have to accept every 7 figure offer it receives just because (theoretically, and except for DP slots) the transfer fee could cover the teams entire salary for a couple of seasons. But, if that is the case, then the league should raise the salary cap so that the lure of more money in lower division european football is not so strong .

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  15. I think they should sell him.. I think anytime a step up comes calling for a good price the teams should sell.. I think the only time they shouldn’t is to comparable teams..

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  16. Dallas has a MLS team?

    I always thought it was just an empty stadium built to house the occasional MLS Cup.

    Who knew?

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  17. how are there any people left out there that don’t know that KC doesnt need a work permit, I almsot yelled at my computer at work.

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  18. Matt, Cooper does not need a work permit. His father was born in the UK and that entitles Kenny to UK citizenship. Plus Cooper already spent time in England at Man U’s academy.

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  19. Matt,

    Cooper’s dad is English so he does not require a work permit. I agree that he is probably gone in January and hopefully he will go to a team on the brink of promotion.

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  20. “It has been made a little bit more difficult because we are dealing far away with the MLS.”

    Wow, you would think that a club putting up millions for one player would have telephones!

    “And more importantly, how bad will the team look selling Cooper after giving fans the “Our focus is winning” line after initially turning down offers from Cardiff and Rosenborg?”

    Not bad at all if their fans are accustomed to European transfer talk. That is, “Player X is not for sale” = “we are ready to hear bids on Player X”.

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  21. “Hitchcock backed himself into a corner he has to keep Cooper now.”

    Not if a better offer comes along. This is a business…plenty of teams say a deal is “dead” because they walked away from a low ball offer.

    See: Barry, Gareth

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  22. Could have been Hitchcock’s plan all along to bring up the offer. In Europe it seems it takes 2-3 strong denials before they make a trade. Besides Carlos Ruiz is available they can go get him for their playoff march 🙂

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  23. I agree, if Dallas keeps him, a pay raise should be significant and immediate (at least a doubling of his salary). But in reality, if Cooper doesn’t go this summer, he will be gone in the January window and if his performance continues, it will be for at least $5 or 6 million, but maybe not to Cardiff. The problem will be work permit for Cooper in England. He will need to get some National team call-ups to get a work permit there (unless the rules are different for the Coca-Cola Champsionship sides).

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  24. Recently I have become a fan of Cooper’s play. He doesnt play stiff like most of our forwards. He lets the game flow through him. I also think he needs to head to Europe soon.

    Dallas isnt ging to win anything soon(dont worry neither are we) might as well make a few dollars along the way.

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  25. I realize Dallas is in a tough spot but I would say that they will have to sell Cooper or give him a significant pay raise if Cardiff City is willing to up their offer.

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  26. Hitchcock backed himself into a corner he has to keep Cooper now. And now matter what Cardiff offers now, its not like FC Dallas gets all that money anyway. Cooper is here for the rest of the season now.

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  27. No matter what happens, I would think Cooper is certainly in the catbirds seat. Good for him. He’s been class since day one.

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