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MLS Ticker: Union acquire White and top allocation spot in trade; Crew land Jimenez and draft pick; and more

Ethan White

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

With Maurice Edu reportedly on the market for clubs in Major League Soccer, the Philadelphia Union has made a move that jumped them to first in the line for Edu’s services.

The Union announced on Tuesday morning that they’ve acquired the top MLS allocation spot and defender Ethan White from D.C. United in exchange for Jeff Parke and the sixth place in the allocation ranking. The move comes as a surprise after a solid year for Parke with the Union and while White struggled last season with injuries, there was hope that the 2014 season could be the Homegrown signing’s breakout year.

While it’s possible that Edu could remain with Stoke City or move to another club in Europe on loan ahead of the 2014 World Cup, the Union felt strong enough to move up in the allocation order to give themselves a chance. Trading the veteran Parke for White might be a downgrade in central defense but acquiring Edu would be a much needed upgrade to their midfield.

D.C. United meanwhile bring in a talented player in Parke on the wrong side of 30 but still capable of putting in solid performances for a side that really struggled defensively last season.

Here are some more stories to catch you up around MLS:

CREW ACQUIRE JIMENEZ AND FIRST ROUND PICK FROM GALAXY

The Columbus Crew jumped back into the first round of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft in a trade on Tuesday with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The Crew and Galaxy announced that they had completed a deal, sending a first round pick (14th overall) in the upcoming SuperDraft and midfielder Hector Jimenez to the Crew with a second round pick (23rd overall) and allocation money moving to the Galaxy. Per league and team policy, additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Hector is an exciting young player and we are pleased to welcome him to our club,” Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter said in a statement. “He is a player that possesses several strong attacking attributes and will help our squad immediately.”

Jimenez, a former Cal Bear standout, has spent the last three seasons with the Galaxy, making 43 appearances and scoring four goals and adding six assists. Both the Crew and Galaxy now hold two selections in the upcoming draft.

SCHULER FALLS TO EARTHQUAKES IN LOTTERY

Former NCAA All-American University of North Carolina forward is heading to the west coach for the upcoming MLS season.

The 23-year-old was allocated to the San Jose Earthquakes in a weighted lottery that was only contested by the Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake. By virtue of winning the lottery, the Earthquakes cannot take part in another weighted lottery until next season.

“Billy is a talented young player and we are looking forward to working with him. He adds to a deep group of forwards that we have on the roster,” Earthquakes head coach Mark Watson said in a statement.

Schuler spent the last two seasons with Hammarby, playing for current Columbus Crew coach Gregg Berhalter. Schuler spurned MLS advances when he left after his junior season at UNC for Sweden. Schuler scored twice in 26 appearances with Hammarby. In three years in college, Schuler put up 29 goals and 15 assists in 71 games.

D.C. UNITED CONFIRM TRANSFER OF JAKOVIC TO J-LEAGUE CLUB

Originally reported last month, D.C. United finally confirmed the departure of long-time centerback Dejan Jakovic.

The Canadian international completed a permanent transfer to Shimizu S-Pulse in the Japanese J-League, ending a five-year run with D.C. United.

“We would like to thank Dejan for his contributions to our club, and for all that he did on and off the field during his time at D.C. United,” D.C. United general manager Dave Kasper said in a statement.

While D.C. United suffered in MLS play last year, Jakovic helped the club to an improbable U.S. Open Cup title. Last season, Jakovic made 20 appearances for D.C. United in all competitions.

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What do you think of this news? Surprised to see D.C. United trade White? Think that the Union can acquire Edu? What kind of role do you see Jimenez having with the Crew?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. The Galaxy didn’t take a player in the Jimenez trade, just taking a lower draft pick, so it seems they got a good chunk of allocation money. Jimenez was their only right winger of note, a position that Villarreal was tried out in. Michael Stephens (who is out of contract) often took that position (as did Mike Magee) I do think that the Galaxy will most likely try and get a good winger,. Remember LS played on the right, quite well when at Everton, for the US at the Gold Cup and for the Galaxy when he was not a withdrawn forward or paired up to with Keane.

    Look fo the Galaxy to go after a good South American, Argentinian or Brazilian with the allocation money.

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  2. goddammit. ethan showed promise last year. i can understand not keeping him, since it was just potential that may never have been realized, but it feels like we traded an almost-built beamer for a 10-year-old camry.

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  3. Maurice was bringing in a pretty good salary not long ago – over $1 million/yr. I cant see him dropping to below a DP salary. Why does the Union need the allocation order to get him if he’ll be a DP? I thought that was how seattle and toronto side stepped the allocation draft

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    • sounds like he won’t be a DP though. EJ wasn’t when he came back and EJ made $800,000 in MLS before heading to Europe. it’s what happens when you get 0 minutes at almost every club you go to in Europe.

      the fact that Philly traded for the allocation makes you think he won’t be a DP if they are really pursuing him.

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      • can’t compare EJ to Edu. EJ never established himself whereas Edu was an established CM at Rangers for years and played well at Turkey to enough so they wanted to buy his contract. He still has interest. The only issue is that it’s a world cup year and guys are forcing moves to guarantee playing time at weaker sides instead of going where they can fight and stay.

    • Apparently Bradley and Dempsey side stepped the allocation order because the league itself facilitated the transfers in order for the league to gain “name appeal”. If the U sign Edu, it will be through a transfer the the U facilitated, therefore not subject to by- passing the allocation order.

      Translation: Donny G takes care of the Big clubs……

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      • no, they bypassed because they were signed as DPs. has nothing to do with the league facilitating anything.

        if you are signed as a DP, you are not subject to allocation.

      • bradley and dempsey bypassed the allocation because they were DPs and the league covered part of their transfer fees. if the league does not pay for part of the transfer fee then I believe the player does have to go through the allocation process (even if they are a DP)…just another one of the crazy MLS rules

      • I don’t think that matters. I’ve read several times in MLS press releases that DPs are not bound by allocation order.

      • no, that is no true. if you are a DP, you only go through the DP process. Seattle and MLS explained this when Dempsey game. use Google.

        “but as Seattle General Manager Adrian Hanauer reminded everybody at today’s press conference, there are a number of ways players can come into the league. You can be a Designated Player, allocated, discovered, drafted, homegrown, etc., but you can only enter through one avenue.”

        so again, MLS paying the transfer fee has literally no effect.

      • Per Steven Goff, Soccer Insider:

        “IF Edu returns, he WOULD go thru allocation but as DP. Why? MLS hq not involved in transfer. Thus, not special case like CD & MB. It’s MLS.”

      • It is so dumb that MLS changes the rules on a transfer by transfer basis. Whats the point of even having them if they don’t apply evenly across the league. Bradley isn’t in the allocation list, but Edu is even if they are both DPs? Zusi qulifies for “retention funds” to keep him from crossing the pond, but Gonzalez takes up a DP slot? I’m glad MLS is bringing back the best US talent, but these rules make no sense.

      • that literally goes completely against what MLS and Seattle said after Dempsey came here.

        “You can be a Designated Player, allocated, discovered, drafted, homegrown, etc., but you can only enter through one avenue.”

        so F it, i give up trying to make sense of MLS’ rules.

      • What you are saying makes sense Bryan, and is in line with what Hanauer said. However, Goff is reporting that USMNT members who sign as DP’s but the league does NOT pay the transfer fee for, still go through the allocation process. That doesn’t make much sense to me, but Goff has been reporting on MLS for years and is usually a very reliable source, so I wouldn’t just dimiss this report because it contradicts previous reports (I am not saying it must be true, just that I would not be surprised if Goff had information that was previously not known to the general public).

      • i completely understand what he is saying. which is why i say it goes against what Hanauer and MLS said. US player or not, they stated you can only come through one avenue. if Edu comes in as a DP and via allocation, that is two avenues.

        and i agree, as a DCU fan, i respect Goff and his knowledge very much. that’s why this is so confusing.

      • lol this was from Goff yesterday, no joke:

        “So if he (Edu) returned as a non-DP, United would have first crack at him in the allocation process. A DP contract would exempt him from allocation and allow him a say in his destination.”

  4. this DCU fan does not like the Parke pick up. i’d rather keep the 23 year old who makes $91,000 as opposed to the 31 year old who makes $212k. i also feel like DCU just gave away the allocation spot. granted, we don’t need Edu (i’d rather stick with Kitchen), but if Philly really want Edu that bad, we should have made them pay for it. instead, our rival is going to get our young, promising player, our allocation spot, and then use it on a US national team player…

    Reply
    • The flip side is the mistakes made by Seattle’s D last year are erased by Parke the previous year. Parke makes $212k for a reason.

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      • i know he is a solid player, i certainly like this move more than the Arnaud move. but i think DCU gave up too much to a rival for too little.

      • It makes more sense if they’re lining up a CB in the draft, particularly one that they see as being better than White. I think that might very well be the case with Birnbaum.

      • also a good point. i think DCU are getting Dean no doubt. personally, i would have liked to keep White while also grabbing Dean.

      • I’ve been a huge fan of white, thought he should have started over McDonald a year earlier. As a fan of the player, this makes me sad. I wanted to see him grow and blossom at DCU. I think he was good enough to start, but it was risky. Parke is less risky. But Ethan would have been a great 3rd center back.

    • This is good because DCU is looking to get good right away while looking away from their long term future. Thus, they might not suck in the CCL and advance but they won’t be good enough to get back to future editions of the CCL. Everybody wins.

      Reply
    • It kind of reminds me of the deal they made for Troy Perkins. They gave away a lot, and they got a good keeper, but Perkins was gone before the start of the next season.

      Reply

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