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Buddle set to sign with FC Ingolstadt

  Edson Buddle (ISIPhotos.com)

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIPhotos.com 

U.S. World Cup striker Edson Buddle has been in Europe for most of the winter, in search of a big payday after finishing out his MLS contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

He has found that payday, and it has taken him to Germany.

Buddle is set to sign with German second division side FC Ingolstadt, sources told SBI on Saturday evening. Buddle was en route to Germany to finalize the contract with a club currently battling relegation in Bundesliga 2.

This development puts pressure on the Los Angeles Galaxy, who must now sign a striker after losing Buddle and trading away young forward Tristan Bowen. The Galaxy has the rights to Juan Pablo Angel, but the club's latest offer to sign Angel was turned down. With Buddle departing, there will be even more pressure on the Galaxy to make a deal with the Colombian goal scorer.

What do you think of this development? Disappointed to see Buddle moving to Bundesliga 2? Hoping the Galaxy can land Angel?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. As a Galaxy fan I’m really bummed about this. It’s only January and I feel like our season has already gone to sh*t. Buddle is good as gone, Bruce traded Bowen away and JPA hasn’t signed yet. Hello Jovan Kirovski! And Beckham has shown once again that really doesn’t want to be here and I’m sure Donovan probably regrets not going to Everton because now he has play with this mess of a team and I’m sure he realizes that it’s all on him now.

    I’m not going to fault Edson for getting his money though. The guy has been a MLS lifer and he deserves to get a pay day. Hopefully he scores a bunch of goals for Ingolstadt in the 2nd half of the season and gets picked up by a bigger and better club. I hope he plays well enough to keep himself in consideration for the Gold Cup.

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  2. I’m disappointed he’s signing with a second division German side in the middle of the relegation fight.
    Hopefully he plays though.

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  3. While Buddle did not burn things up for the USMNT, I’m not sure he really got a good chance. For MLS he was 2nd highest scorer this past year and top scorer for the top regular season team. Those ARE pretty decent credentials. I mean, I wish the Fire had someone who scored 17 goals last year!So, saying he “isn’t that great” is pretty bogus. No, he’s not the next Messi, but he is a pretty solid forward and MLS could do with more like him.

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  4. He had a lot of interest in the UK (BPL, SPL and Championship), but he couldn’t qualify for a work permit in the United Kingdom.

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  5. buddle isnt that great. if he wants to try europe then great for him. but he isnt a big lost to MLS. the same siutation applies to findley.

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  6. Again, his first season with Saerbruken was in the Bundesliga. They were relegated to the second division the next season. After that he was transferred to Bochum for the $850,000 you mentioned. Read the Wikipedia link again to confirm this (since I believe you got your info from that, but just misread it.

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  7. I think Birmingham City would have been a sexier move for Buddle. I’m no fan of his but I’d say he’s better than 2nd division German Bundesliga.

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  8. Doesn’t matter if there are 14 teams that want adu or not. They can’t sign adu or any USMNT player until they are at top of the allocation order. Meaning they wait until they get there or they trade for it.

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  9. The news about Buddle absolutely disgusts me as an MLS fan and RBNY is my team. No matter what anyone says, he is moving from one of elite teams in MLS to bottom of 2nd division in Germany. I actually doubt that performing well for that team will be more meaningful to bigger teams that 17 goals for the Galaxy.

    On a separate note, does anyone have any idea how much LA offered to JPA before he declined? It’s an interestin thought that they are probably offering him a multiple of what they were willing to pay Buddle who is 6 years younger and already had a much better season last year.

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  10. I think people are forgetting that Buddle probably has ambitions to play in Europe and understand that this is probably is last shot. People are factoring money into the equation a little too much. Yes, if MLS salary cap wasn’t what it is the Galaxy probably would’ve been able to offer him enough money to stay, but there are plenty of pluses for MLS’s financial restrictions as well.

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  11. Holden had gotten that contract when he didn’t merit anything more and then never renegotiated so he could go to Europe on a free.

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  12. You’re assuming a lot here. The standard of play in the second tier in Germany isn’t exactly Bayern Munich, but it’s still a decent league. Moreover, they tend to pay significantly more than MLS. The guy has been playing soccer his entire life–I’m pretty sure that he (and his agent) know that different leagues are at different levels in Europe. I’m thinking that he’s planning on using this as a springboard to other leagues in Europe, but that’s just a guess. If rumors are true, he isn’t going for the EPL because he wouldn’t be able to get a work permit in England.

    I agree that this is a shame that such a good player is arguably taking a step down in league status, but I think that this says more about MLS than it does about Buddle. If they want to be taken seriously as a league, they need to start compensating their players accordingly.

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  13. What will be really sad is if the MLS top ‘der bomber’ doesn’t hit net at Ingolstadt. Now that would be depressing. Seems here many people think Buddle will step on the pitch and the goals will spill forth. D2 in Germany is still a very high level of play, and quicker than the MLS. If he does well, he’ll get some looks from better teams, but nothing is guaranteed least of all how he will perform….

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  14. Wynalda was transferred to fellow Second Division club VfL Bochum at the end of the season for $850,000….that was in the early 90s.

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  15. I’m pretty sure that Wynalda’s first season in Germany was in the Bundesliga (although is team was relegated after the season – Saarbruken).

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  16. At the risk of sounding incredibly obvious, anyone think maybe he just wanted to play in Europe before the end of his career?

    Maybe, just maybe, money had less to do with than acheiving a personal goal? I know it is crazy, but maybe this doesn’t need to be read as a statement about anything other than whatEdson Buddle wants to do?

    I knw…crazy talk.

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  17. in terms of level of play i’m disappointed but he will get playing time since they need scorers now…in terms of salary there could be some incentives that he is being offered in addition to the base salary and with the strength of euro vs $, he could be making lots more…..what this means for freddy, i think no chance cuz the club obviously is in no position to invest in a ‘prospect’, which is how they probably view freddy….

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  18. Absolutely disgusted with Buddle. He’s getting paid to play in a league that is much inferior to MLS. We’re losing one of our best strikers to a team that’s about to be relegated to the 3rd div. Stop selling yourselves short, Americans! It just goes to show that MLSers think that Europe is one undifferentiated mass, in which all leagues are made the same. There’s absolutely NOTHING impressive about playing in the 2nd or 3rd division overseas. Leaving for EPL is one thing, but any second division in Europe is inferior to MLS. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Plus, most of these Americans who go to these lower divisions either end up getting lost, or end up right back in MLS. I’m looking at you, Cooper.

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  19. are you saying that there are 14 MLS teams interested in signing Adu?
    I can’t imagine that would be the case…

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  20. It’s not a cigar, it’s a USMNT striker/one of top MLS goalkeepers landing at bottom of Bundesliga 2.

    Which as Der Amerikanisher Kaiser notes, is comparable to…MLS.

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  21. why is this such a global mls v b2 issue? get over it. a 29 year old, who has lived in the us his entire life, gets to go to a new country and have a new adventure. plus he missed the whole study abroad thing. look $$$ matter (how else to attract talent to some of the dour towns i.e. blackburn) but for most in mls or b2 it’s just not a life-changing amount. not to mention the taxes paid by expats, which are quite punitive. quit over-analyzing the thing and give the guy credit for taking a leap. sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

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  22. According to the info released by MLS in September 2009, Holden was making $35,000. When they were trying to keep him after the end of his contract, they offered to raise it.

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  23. The reason he didn’t come to Sheffield Wednesday is because they let the North Stand, and Kop people sit in the South Stand. Very understandable in my opinion.

    It’s all about standards.

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  24. Holden was on the MLS minimum which was in the 30 or 40 range. However, it was reported that MLS offered him something much much higher (just below DP) and he passed to go to the EPL.

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