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BREAKING-Agbossoumonde signs with MLS, lands with Toronto FC (UPDATED)

By IVES GALARCEP

Young American defender Gale Agbossoumonde has seen his fledgling career take a variety of winding twists and turns, taking him from Europe to the NASL, with a U.S. National Team cap earned along the way.

What Agbossoumonde has been unable to find as a pro is stability. That might be about to change.

Agbossoumonde has signed a contract with Major League Soccer and will be placed in a special lottery to determine which team he winds up being placed with, sources have confirmed to SBI on Thursday.

The lottery will take place today, with Toronto FC, the LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas, among the teams in line to try and land the former U.S. Under-20 national team centerback. Toronto FC has the highest odds in the weighted lottery of landing the young defender.

(UPDATED- Sources tell SBI that Toronto FC has won the lottery for Agbossoumonde.)

The signing ends a lengthy saga that saw MLS try to sign Agbossoumonde earlier in the year only to have him pass on an offer. The move to MLS also signifies that he has finally severed ties with Traffic Sports, which held his rights since he turned pro.

Agbossoumonde, 21, most recently played for the Carolina Railhawks. He spent two years under contract with Portuguese side Estoril Praia, which sent him on loans to Swedish side Djurgarden and German side Eintracht Frankfurt. Prior to that, Agbossoumonde spent time with Portuguese side Sporting Braga.

The move to sign with MLS comes less than a year after Agbossoumonde turned down a contract offer from MLS before joining the Railhawks on loan. A member of the U.S. Under-23 national team player pool a year ago, Agbossoumonde was sidelined due to injury, which kept him from taking part in the U.S. Under-23 Olympic Qualifying campaign.

What do you think of this development? Where would you like to see Agbossoumonde wind up? Still think he could wind up being a U.S. national team regular one day?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. MLS is a joke. A lottery? The player is in the NASL. He should be allowed to sign with any team that wants him.

    Now he has to play in Canada?

    I’m done with this joke of a league.

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  2. It’s too bad we didn’t participate in this. Granted we would have had small odds but, man, imagine what Dom could do with this kid if given a couple years…..

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      • Andrew Ferrell can cover rb and cb! I dont know enough about zimmerman or boss to decide, but either one would be welcomed in colorado.

      • With the top two players in the draft being cb’s I think Toronto will prob trade away the two picks they have.At least the first one since they picked up Califf and now Gale I don’t think their going to go after Zimmerman or Farell.To me that says they prob rate Gale above both Ferrel and Zimmerman.

      • As Ives pointed out in this Q&A yesterday, Califf might not be the lockdown defender he once was….and you NEED depth in MLS, especially if Toronto wins the Canadian championship AGAIN and qualifies for CCL, hell they almost made it to the quarters of the current 2012-13 CCL, but come late July or August they’ll have those 4 games to deal with plus the Canadian championship….still tho I would have loved to see him in LA or Seattle instead, espeically with LA only having Omar for 2013 and then he’s a free agent who will be going abroad for sure….

        Maybe this helps Toronto become a great team now, they do have 2 of the top 3 picks so they have a lot of pieces worthy of being starters?

  3. He should have made this move some time ago. Think he would be a great fit in Seattle or LA, I hope for his sake he avoids TFC for now. At Seattle or LA he wouldn’t be expected to start right away more than likely, at TFC he might need to.

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      • Hmmmmm, I think Califf got signed because they don’t feel ready to start Henry yet, and I think Boss and Henry will deputize for the ageing Califf as necessary. This does give the appearance of an improving CB setup for TFC.

        That being said, Califf is old and mediocre enough that either of the young prospects could easily be starting this year. So this is not an incubator, they might play. But a consistent place to play is what Boss needs, we’ll see what he’s got.

  4. Hey guy, remember that one time when another Gale Agbossoumonde article had people blasting Traffic Sports and this one commenter keep sticking up for Traffic so blatantly that it was clear he was an employee and everyone called him on it? Those were good times.

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  5. If Seattle wins, then the Mayans were right and it’s the end of the world because in 4 yrs Seattle hasn’t won one lottery or coin flip. It’s a conspiracy I tell ya!

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    • It is about time Seattle won something! It will be nice to have him be the 4th CB in the depth chart instead of Duran. Duran has talent, but not sure how healthy he can stay. Plus, he’ll get a lot of playing time during the traditionally deep USOC run and reserve play.

      Seriously, does anyone have the percentages for this lottery yet?

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  6. Gale is like JP Rodrigues, just another guy who will ride the bench on loan from the MLS. He was a Miami FC REJECT, and that says A TON!

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    • JP Rodriguez? Miami FC had more to do with the holders of his rights, Traffic….wanting to move him for crazy money so they stuck him in a few places while they searched for a suitor that could pay what they wanted

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  7. Seriously, this could the last chance for The Boss. He’s had way too many set backs and if he hits another a fork could be stuck in his career. The talent is there but he hasn’t produced the body of work to match his talent. Some of that is situational (i.e. Traffic) and some of it falls on him. I really like Gale and I hope, for his sake, he lands at a club that will finally actually take their time to develop him. Tutelage under Arena/Gonzalez in LA, Sigi/Hurtado in Seattle, or hell even under Hyndman/ John could serve him well.

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  8. I do wonder about one thing…..did he have to wait one year to do this and waste it in NASL? I mean I know it’s a good league with some MLS veterans and some talent that has fallen thru the US recruiting cracks or MLS salary caps but still…he could have been getting a lot more exposure and experience in MLS…..oh well probably had something to do with his previous representatives of Traffic Sports who were probably asking an arm, eye AND leg from MLS for his rights….

    I hope LA, Seattle or Toronto get him, preferably LA since I am an Angelino and Die-hard Galaxy fan hahaha but those 3 teams have needs for Center Backs, even Seattle since Parke left and they are in CCL and always take the USOC serious as opposed to Dallas who has John, Hedges I think is his name and Ihemelu…..

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  9. About time he did this. He is like Opara talented but raw talent. Hopefully he lands with an MLS team that will have the patience to develop him further. CB’s peak later than any other field player, so Boss still has a whole lot of time on his side still.

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  10. For his sake I hope he doesn’t go to TFC. That team is almost as laughable as Chivas USA.
    I would love for ‘Boss to be under the tutelage of Arena, Schmid or even Hyndmann.

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    • I still think they are better off since they have a fan base, TFC’s fans are currently pissed off but still buy a near 100% sellout worth of tickets and TFC had about 14k waiting list for Season tickets…..a few moves of COMMON SENSE and TFC could improve big time, they do have 2 of the top 3 picks of the draft so they could end up with 2 great players ready to start and have them be GA guys who don’t count towards the Salary cap…..Chivas on the other hand…well Iive in LA and let me tell you….it’s not pretty lol

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    • Oh and I don’t know how I feel about him going to FC Dallas? They just resigned George John who isn’t going anywhere as he needs to get back to his old self after having a bad year full of injuries and a bad run of form….and they have Ihemelu as well as Hedges I think is the rookie they drafted last year, who was good enough technically that he would attack so he’s a great CB to look to the future with…. LA will probably lose Omar to Europe or even Mexico after the 2013 season, he has little interest in going abroad on loans or what not this winter after the nightmare that was the Nurnberg loan but he will play out his contract with MLS and the Galaxy only to go to Europe on a Free Transfer as soon as he can, hopefully he’ll have some caps to help him with that tho…in case an EPL team comes calling

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      • Love Omar but wouldn’t it be smart for MLS and the Galaxy to shop him in the summer instead of him leaving for free? I feel like he could command a high transfer fee, prolly the highest we’ve seen for an MLS Defender. We already know that he isn’t going to sign a new deal at the end of the 2013 season.

      • With only something like 6 months or less left in his contract at the time of that summer window I doubt they would get anything considering he would not even get those 6 months with said team….he won’t be able to be with them UNTIL he would normally become a Free agent…..I think with the CCL now and the CCL next eyar and trying to keep riding out the dynasty Arena has built with this group, and given the fact that league is set up for parity with teams who have success struggling to keep their players or sign new ones. They’ll try to win as much as possible now…. so I think they’ll keep him for all of 2013 with hopes of goign as far as possible in the MLS season, US Open Cup and 2013-14 CCL….

  11. Trapp, Zardes, now Boss? Goodness. Keep this good news coming. Influx of young American talent into the MLS can ONLY be a good thing. This is fantastic, FANTASTIC news.

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  12. I’m no expert on the situation, but as far as I can tell he’s wasted at least a couple years bouncing around due to his contract with Traffic Sports. Let this be a cautionary tale to other young talents. If he really has the raw tools to be a star, hopefully he lands in a good situation with an MLS team that will help him catch up and reach his potential.

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    • You could say the same thing about Greg Garza — now with Tijuana but who similarly bounced around Portugal and such while with Traffic. Ditto Tony Taylor and Bryan Arguez.

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  13. Glad to see Boss will now be in the MLS where he can develop under my own watchful eyes.

    Is he still represented by those flesh-peddlers Traffic Sports? If he isnt- smart move and maybe now people will take this kid seriously.

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    • No, if you go back and read the article at middle part, the 5th sentence if you will, it says that this move to MLS means he has severed ties with Traffic

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      • Stop being such a homer. The author edited his piece after this comment to include the info about Traffic. This is why updates to articles should be noted in the article.

      • chill, man. he’s not being a homer, he just didn’t know the article was edited. it’s not like it’s unheard of for people to comment without reading the whole (or any of) the post.

      • First of all…I wasn’t even responding to you on that comment above ^^^ but more important, dude I was joking……thus the comment about being Toasted? come on man….. if you want to be all anal about it, you would know the answer to that inquiry if you remember the story about Agbossomounde when he tried to sign with MLS in January of this year or late in 2011….he only had this year left on his hostage contract

      • “toasted” = trying to make someone look like a fool while making yourself look like one in the process.

        I’m just joking though.

      • That was pretty funny…but I was using more humor on the fact that his username is couchTOAST lol

        I might have to use your definition in the future tho….lol

      • It the only thing that comes out of this is the introduction of the phrase “toasted” in the SBI lexicon, I will be nothing short of flattered and honored.

  14. DC United skipping another lottery? I believe I’m correct in noting they have not participated in one since the Luis Gil lottery. They must be waiting on someone REALLY good…..

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    • Funny, though — LA Seattle, Dallas, Vancouver and Portland seem to participate in most of these. Even winning one before doesn’t keep Portland from winning again, because so few teams bother.

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    • yeah, kind of disappointed that dcu isn’t at least participating, although i don’t really know how these things work (i.e. what they’d have to lose).

      seems like he’d be a promising project. maybe his salary put them off?

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      • Not too surprised that DCU passed. They have Dejan and BMac as starters, are still negotiating to see if The Dudar will continue to abide at a lower salary, and are already developing Ethan White and Connor Shanosky at CB. Probably can’t afford to pay for another CB developmental project.

  15. Kid desperately needs stability and a good coaching staff to teach him the basics from the ground up. He has enough athleticism to be a star but the few times I’ve seen him play, he looks incredibly raw and mistake prone. He’s also been injured a lot. It will be interesting to see if he can blossom with some stability and a run of health.

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  16. You know what would have been a good piece of information to include in this article? Anything about his contract with Traffic Sports, and specifically the current status of said contract. Guess I’ll just go Google it.

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    • You know what would have been good for you to do? Actually read the article. It clearly states, “The move to MLS also signifies that he has finally severed ties with Traffic Sports, which held his rights since he turned pro.”

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      • Well, since Ives apparently doesn’t note when he edits his article after it has first been posted, then, yeah, I guess I’ve been totally toasted.

        It took two separate commenters for Ives to realize this was a pretty glaring omission in the article, and he subsequently edited.

      • yeah, if that is what happened in this case, this is a valid comment; i’ve been made to look pretty stupid because of subsequent edits as well.

        ives, you might want to note (“UPDATE:…” or whatever) when you’ve added or deleted something in a post.

      • Sorry – didn’t realize it was edited. Even so, not really fair for you to call out Ives for missing facts. This wasn’t a thinkpiece about Boss’ career, it was a quick, breaking news story about the lottery. You have to recognize context.

      • I’m the guy laughing at your “gotcha” moment going down in flames and wondering who you are to say it’s unfair for someone asking why more facts weren’t originally stated.

        Obviously his inquiry was valid, as they were later added.

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