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Agbossoumonde set for RailHawks loan

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Photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

U.S. Under-23 national team defender Gale Agbossoumonde is set to finalize a loan move to the NASL's Carolina RailHawks today, sources told SBI.

The 20-year-old Agbossoumonde has been on a constant quest for consistent playing time for the better part of the last three years, having stints with Sporting Braga in Portugal, Djurgardens IF in Sweden and Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany yield few first-team minutes.

With Carolina, he does not figure to have that problem, and the move provides him a platform to improve while working toward making the U.S. Olympic qualifying roster and this summer's Olympic tournament, should the United States qualify. He'll be on loan from Portuguese second division side Estoril, which holds his rights through the summer of 2013.

The move to Carolina comes a couple of weeks after Agbossoumonde passed on a chance to sign with MLS. Instead of locking himself into a multi-year deal, like he did upon signing with Traffic in 2009, Agbossoumonde will see out the final year of his current deal in Carolina before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2013, a move that could pay major dividends with strong showings for the RailHawks and the U-23s this year.

What do you think of this development?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Colin Clarke isn’t going to demand anything of him. Boss doesn’t even know who that bozo is. Boss is going from Europe to a team that draws 3,000 a game and to an inferior league no one cares about. No tv, no media coverage, nobody in the stands. No chance to improve against crap players. Minor league soccer full of players MLS got rid of. A league that makes MLS look like the EPL.

    Do you think Boss gives a crap about some Mickey Mouse team in Dishwater, N Carolina? Traffic is his master and they are sticking him on a team they own because he has nowhere else to go and MLS isn’t going to groom him for Europe without getting a transfer fee. But his slave master Traffic only wants that fee.

    He probably won’t even play much(and risk getting hurt by crap NASL players) and hope he can gain European interest playing for the U-23s. But Porter should drop him from the team for playing at an inferior level. It would be a joke to have a lowly D2 player on the squad.

    He should pray he gets something from Europe in the summer. But Traffic killed this kid’s career. I hope Traffic goes belly up and stay away from American soccer.

    Ream, Dempsey, Howard, John, Rolfe, etc did it the right way. Boss messed up.

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  2. Bust? Seriously, Bro. Way too premature to labeling the kid a “bust”. He might end up being a rank and file MLS type player or playing in a Scandavian first division when all is said and done. In my book, way to early to label him a bust.

    Let’s see if what another Traffic ward, “Mookie” Arguez does now that he’s back in MLS and more mature. Let’s see what Marsch gets out of him. He has an almost identical story. If Aguez might still end up helping the Olympic squad and becoming a decent MLS player and possibly be more prepared to take on Europ again.

    Same MIGHT (key word, I know) happen for Boss.

    Colin Clarke is going to demand a lot of him. He’s a guy who’s been where Boss wants to get to. Let’s see how it plays out. I think there are stills ome chapters to be written in this kid’s story…

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  3. 3rd party ownership is banned in England, and for good reason. It seems every young american that gets signed to traffic ends up delaying their developement.

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  4. I think two over-aged CBs or one CB and a CB/DM will be brought in. That’ seems to be their weakest area. I don’t see Porter picking Boss.

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  5. Who cares about this guy. His a bust. I was so sick about hearing his name post WC that his the future. 8 teams later and now his still rejecting the MLS??? The guy terrible.

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  6. Things don’t work that way in MLS. First of all, the CBA dictates what kind of contracts are available. And a 1 year contract in which MLS didn’t have an option to extend would never happen. And what would be the incentive for MLS to offer a 1 year deal? They can’t sell a player who is out of contract after 1 year. In a perfect world maybe they could have (or maybe they did?) offered him a deal with a really low buyout clause, but judging by the struggles of players that wanted to go abroad in the past, I’m guessing that MLS doesn’t put those things in contracts.
    Anyway, there is no guarantee he’d get starting minutes in MLS, so might as well go to Carolina and get solid playing time leading up to the olympics.

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  7. If that really was his philosophy then Kyle Beckerman wouldn’t be starting. This is also U-23s, so many of the most talented players haven’t yet carved out meaningful minutes with their club teams. If he’s the best CB on the training pitch, then he will probably play. I suspect an overage CB will be brought in at some point to lead the defensive corps, though.

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  8. Overly simplified and incorrect conclusion. Do you think Ronaldinho has been hurt by being sponsored by Traffic?

    If Traffic is only motivated by ‘evil’ profit, you think it’d be in there best interest to scout good players who can earn larger contracts.

    Don’t place blame solely on Traffic, when the player has been incapable to impress any coach enough to make the case to keep him around.

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  9. Should he be part of the U23 in London? I thought the Klinsman strategy was to pick the best player playing at the highest level. If selected, does it mean that the best player at his position is in the NASL?

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  10. This deal still isn’t set in stone, guys… My Thursday night open men’s league is still working to procure his services.. It all depends on Pete M, who still hasn’t pitched in his $5 to help us meet the $100 asking price. (fingers crossed!)

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  11. I am surprised he couldnt get an MLS contract even if it was for a year. He wants to go back abroad so 1yr deal, discovery right or something if he comes back to MLS in X years for that team and ability to go for Olympics if pick…all for about what he might get for the Rail Hawks. I would have thought some MLS team might have wanted to put him as an option for even just the year on the cheap for a team needing some depth even if he wont be back for two years. They get a potentially good sub for a year…although he will likely be on the pitch full time with Rail Hawks. I understand an MLS team not wanting to bother with a one year deal for him and the team….but there are advantages still as long as the price was right, such as it gives the MLS team another year to find a better long term option for that position.

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  12. So now he lands with the Scum-Hawks. The trouble is for us NASL Rowdies fans this will be a tough chant:

    “Sporting Brag-Djurgardens IF-Eintracht Frankfurt REJECT!!!!Sporting Brag-Djurgardens IF-Eintracht Frankfurt REJECT!!!!”

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  13. He’s 20…He hasn’t failed yet. The US 2nd Division is a great place for him to relax and prove his skills before a move up. Are the Railhawks a team where he fits in to showcase his skills? The team is more important than which league he is in.

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  14. he’s only at USL until his contract ends. He’s already rejected MLS’ 2nd offer. I’m not disagreeing with you though. Until he proves something, i’m not holding my breath.

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  15. ” … Sporting Braga in Portugal, Djurgardens IF in Sweden and Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany yield few first-team minutes…” and Railhawks.

    Poor decisions by Boss and his agents. The argument that he’s young so no big deal is false. Those are years he should have been improving but were loss, the Adu template that should be avoided by everyone.

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  16. Maybe he is moving from team to team can be attributed to Traffic’s dealings but I don’t see that would affect his playing time. He is not playing because he is not good enough and frankly I just don’t understand why we hear so much about him.

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  17. Little of both, but traffic is known to jack up the transfer price fat the last minute, trying to squeeze every dollar they can. In Gale’s case, I believe it happened at least once. There’s no question that he needs some work too though. I think a season at Carolina will really accelerate his development. He’s been pretty stagnant for 2-3 years, one full season will seem lnike a lifetime for him

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  18. Yeah, anyone who signs with Traffic really hurts their chances of progressing as a player in exchange a slightly larger bit of money at a younger age. Traffic should be banned, 3rd Party ownership is very dangerous because they only care about profit and have a much smaller interest in long term development of players than teams.

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  19. “He’s been developing. He has been making real progress”

    Based on what? The fact that he’s couldn’t get playing time even when on loan or the fact that he’s in the USL now?

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  20. I think his biggest mistake was signing with Traffic. Anyways, maybe someone can answer this for me: he’s never really stuck with a team and playing time has been hard to come by. Has this been because he isn’t good enough (and we as US fans overrate him) or is it because Traffic is demanding too much for his full rights and these other teams have balked at them?

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  21. Best of luck to him. I hope he has a good stint with Carolina and does well at the Olympics (assuming we make it). However, I hope he doesn’t get too hyped and sign for some big club where he doesn’t play. Even if he’s destined to become the greatest US defender ever, he’s got a lot of seasoning to do before he gets there.

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  22. He has been developing. He has been making real progress, and appears to have learned his lesson in regards to Traffic as seen by not signing the MLS contract.

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  23. “What do you think of this development?”

    I think it’ll be a development when he actually develops. Until then, I’m tired of hearing about him.

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