By FRANCO PANIZO
Jermaine Jones has found a new home, but it is not in MLS.
Turkish club Besiktas announced on Thursday that Jones has joined the side from German Bundesliga outfit Schalke via a loan for the remainder of the season that comes with an option to buy. Jones will be out of contract at the end of the current campaign, but the loan deal that sees the Black Eagles pay Schalke an estimated $271,000 comes with options that could see him stick with Besiktas permanently through the 2015-16 season.
The move comes a day before the winter transfer window closes and gives the 32-year-old U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder a chance at earning steady minutes ahead of this summer’s World Cup, a tournament he has never played in during his career and is projected to participate in despite the Americans’ deep talent in central midfield.
Jones had been struggling to cement a starting role for Schalke during the first half of the present campaign, making nine starts in 14 appearances and scoring one goal. He was recently left off the roster for the club’s winter camp so as to find a new team to play for, and had been reportedly interested in joining MLS before agreeing to a move with Besiktas.
Whether Jones remains with the Super Lig club beyond this season, his time at Schalke is all but over. Jones finishes a seven-year stint with the German club with 129 Bundesliga appearances, seven league goals and experience playing in the UEFA Champions League.
Jones will now set his sights on making his Besiktas debut, which could come as early as Friday as the club takes on Erciyesspor in a league fixture.
The Black Eagles are currently in fourth place in the Super Lig, just four points shy of second-place Galatasaray and the UEFA Champions League spot they are currently holding.
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What do you think of Jones joining Besiktas? Expecting him to do well enough in Turkey that Besiktas exercises their options on him? Would you have preferred MLS to sign him (even at a big DP deal)?
Share your thoughts below.
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My wife is Turkish and Besiktas is my adopted team. Yes! I am pumped, because Besiktas needs someone to lay a beat down on Felipe Melo and his bush league shenanigans. Contrary to what was stated before, the Turkish league is much stronger than people think with Galatasaray making it to the Quarter-finals of Champions League last year and Fenerbache making it to the Semi-Finals of Europa. Galatasaray beat Schalke last year with Jones on the bench for card accumulation. Jones is joining a team with the most passionate fans in Turkey and arguably Europe. Besiktas has always been seen as the 3rd Istanbul team, but they are in a strong position to challenge for a spot in Europe. I am happy to see Jones join the side. I think he will resonate well with the fan base!
Sweet! Thanks for some inside analysis. I do remember Jones absolutely bossing the the midfield in the first leg of Schalke Galataseray…..great stuff
Seems about right. I’m not his biggest fan but I hope this goes well.
Glad hell get steady PT leading to WC. We will need him off bench or on some starts. Still wanna see beckerman and Bradley play the midfield together. Beckerman steady and defensive minded lets Bradley be the playmaker he is. So many people blinded by JJ being in Europe which supposedly makes him better for USMNT. It’s different situations folks, club team doesn’t determine what works for the national side.
And let the beckerman haters begin their usual tirades…
Bradley really isn’t a playmaker.
When he’s paired with Jones he sure isn’t. That’s the problem. When he’s paired with others—a wide range of others—he pushes a little further up field and provides an essential pivot for passing and attack.
Agreed, in that pairing Jones is a blackhole of negative energy and dispossession.
so he goes from $5M a year at Schalke to making $1.2M in HALF a season in Turkey. then an option for $2.45M for next season with $13,500 bonus per appearance. yeah, no MLS team was gonna match that…
hopefully after the World Cup he’ll come to MLS and take the $1M-$2M MLS teams are willing to offer.
if the MLS didn’t have the stupid low cap+DP rule and instead had a wage cap more compatible with soccer (a hard cap for $14 mil for instance) you would see a lot more players like Jones coming to the league. The quality would go way up.
This is what happens when you have NFL goobers running a soccer league. They just don’t get it.
When Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones meet at camp in March, the first meeting after MB’s big money 6-year contract move to Toronto and Jermaine’s last-minute shaky 5-month loan move to Turkey, MB most likely will have a big sheet-eeting grin on his face. Yep, MB’ll probably be wearing a tuxedo and a top hat and will invite his good buddy Jermaine out for a spin in his new chaffer-driven Rolls Royce, driven by Kyle Beckerman, and they will climb in the back and MB still grinning will offer Jermaine a big fat cigar and then light it with a hundred dollar bill. MB will invite Jermaine out to dinner at an expensive restaurant and gush about the new 32-room mansion in Toronto and the quaint little 10-room vacation homes in Miami and Aspen and MB will pick up the restaurant tab and leave a big fat tip, and they’ll stand up and MB will still be unable to wipe the victorious grin off his face.
haha. And MB will close by saying to JJ Bad…”What do you think ABOOT me now??!”
You got it. And no doubt Donovan will be cracking jokes with a corny French accent asking about the Champions League.
lol the title
Freddy Adu is apparently on trial with blackpool and may sign him if Tom Ince Leaves.
How could he possibly get a work permit if Agudelo couldn’t?
Writing is on the wall for Jozy. If has “it”, it better show up ASAP.
I still haven’t read any analysis of this team: its needs, depth at defensive mid, style of play— basically anything that would help me understand how Jones is expected to fit in. Is this move just playing Beskitas’ midfield options (therefore less playing time for JJ) or is his arrival the godsend they’ve needed all season?
Can anyone put on their Ives hat and offer some information?
Bigger US related story today is Sunderland signing a new striker…not good news for Jozy.
Not new, news, but still not good for Jozy. Remember, Sunderland were shopping Fletcher.
Not good for the new striker either if there’s no service.
Well, this new guy comes from the Brazilian league, but if you read his stats and history, he doesn’t look that impressive. He had a good couple of seasons at Newell’s Old
Boys in Argentina, didn’t do much in Europe (Greece I think it was), didn’t do much in Brazil and is 28 years old. One thing that Jozy, Fletcher and Johnson lack is real speed. Maybe that is what this guy brings, I don’t know, but maybe Poyet is looking for something in particular, because this guy doesn’t look like someone good enough to turn their season around.
I’m actually surprised he didn’t come to MLS. I am pretty sure that fully half the teams in the league would pay more than 271K per year to get him.
if the numbers are what they sound like, besiktas is paying $271K for half a season. that would be a little harder to swallow for mls teams.
THANK GOD MLS didn’t snag him. I don’t think I could take more heartburn like these last few months. (but i would love to see him in L.A. after the World Cup, just not before it)
He could also end up playing for an MLS expansion club next year.
Anybody know if it’s in a cool part of Istanbul? Is the Asia/Europe divide a real thing there?
Thanks to Biff for breaking that story
Freddy Adu on trial at Blackpool per sky sports twitter
Cats have nine lives…is this Freddy’s 7th?
Freddy’s in his third cat
LOL
Good for him but if Juan can’t get a work permit how could Freddy?
I’m guessing that since Freddy has already played overseas in Greece and elsewhere that he qualifies because of that. It seems that players who play in top divisions of European nations don’t have the work permit problem.
I didn’t think the strict national team requirements applied outside the premier league
It’s spelled Besiktas, not Beskitas.
He needed a loan/transfer away from Shalke after his latest disagreement(s) with the them, so anywhere he landed where he’d be able to get playing time was going to be good for him.
Having players in good form heading into the WC is going to be needed if we hope to advance out of the group. And with this move Jones remains as a front runner to make the 23 for the US. Regardless how you rate JJ, he is still one of the top 4 CM’s for the US squad and will be needed in Brazil.
Having Bradley, Jones, Edu, Diskerud, D. Williams, Beckerman, Kljestan all seeing consistent minutes with their clubs gives the USMNT coaches option and depth in the event of an injury or if a player is in a slump.
I for one am glad to see that we are finally getting to the point where if an injury does occur we’ll not be forced to carry a player into the WC who isn’t able to contribute to the team. This is probibly the biggest advancement that we’ve seen in the last 3 years…..
“I for one am glad to see that we are finally getting to the point where if an injury does occur we’ll not be forced to carry a player into the WC who isn’t able to contribute to the team. ”
And what makes you think that the players you named will necessarily contribute positively? With the exception of Bradley, your list doesn’t have a single player who will be considered even for an average European national side.
depending on what nations you’d classify as an “Average European” side. Are our players the caliber to garner a spot on the squads from, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland, France….I’d agree. But except for Beckerman….would say that they’d all be in contention for places on Mid-Level Euro nations (Scottland, Slovenia, Denmark, Czech, Greece, Sweden, etc….). As much as I love the USMNT and want them to do well, I’m realistic about where I think we are as a soccer playing nation. We’re on par with Euro Countries ranked 11 – 25 of the EUFA rankings.
We’re getting better, but will take another 10 + years before we see the player level of Bradley across the entire squad…and the 1 world class player that drives us into real contention for a seeding at the WC.
Lost in Space, you gave a thoughtful, level headed response to a ridiculous question from David, Kudos!
David, what a waste of a comment. Regardless of its accuracy, what is the purpose of the question? Can we go recruit midfielders from top european countries? No. So aside from trying to convince a few more GerMericans to come to the team, if you don’t have a point or purpose, get the hell off this board.
That is all
And you’ve been appointed to decide whose comments are worthy of this board? And who should or shouldn’t be here?
Baring injuries, this will be by far the deepest pool we’ve ever had for a WC.
just wonder how jones would respond to not starting. dont think he ought to be a lock and seems to be a bit of a malcontent if/when he finds himself on the bench
I don’t know why people dog on the Super Lig. It’s a good
League and its fan base are second to none in terms of rabid insanity.
I’ve noticed that, and they play a quality, high skilled game
Excatly. The Super Lig is a match made in heaven for Jermaine. He won’t stand out anymore for his hard tackles he’ll fit right in just like he did in England.
Agreed. Little top heavy (but then what European league isn’t?). I’d do it something like-
1. EPL
1. La Liga
1. Bundesliga
4. Serie A
5. Ligue 1 (France)
6. Russia
6. Netherlands
6. Turkey
6. Portugal
10. Ukraine
11. Greece
12. Belgium
La Liga
EPL
Bundesliga
Brazil
Italy
Portugal
Argentina
France
Russia
Netherlands
Ukraine
Mexico
Belgium
Turkey
Greece
Bund 2
Champ
Segunda
MLS
Swiss
Works for me, but it is a bit optimistic really. Only the top 1/3 of MLS could hang.
hang with what?
With the other leagues in the same grouping you proposed.
No chance Brasil is better than Italy
Current UEFA rankings of the leagues by country:
1
Spain
2
England
3
Germany
4
Italy
5
Portugal
6
France
7
Russia
8
Netherlands
9
Ukraine
10
Belgium
11
Turkey
12
Greece
13
Switzerland
14
Austria
15
Czech Republic
UEFA rankings are nice, but aren’t accurate…because they don’t have to be accurate. What difference does it make to UEFA if France is better than Portugal but ranked lower? Yeah, the top teams need to be ranked higher, but the exact order is fairly inconsequential.
If you want reliable rankings, you really have to go where getting it right matters because money is on the line; e.g., betting sites.
(The only rankings UEFA really needs to get right—because there’s money at stake—is which teams will draw the biggest audiences.)
How does La Liga occupy that lofty spot when they really only have three teams at the top that win first place regularly? I have watched La Liga games and I thought they had nothing in common with the usual winners in that league: Barca, Real and Atletico.
valencia and sevilla just dominated their europa league groups. real betis also qualified through to ko stage.
and of course barca, RM, and atletico topped UCL groups
which league is better? why?
The success of Barca and Real overshadow the other teams, but over the last 15 years there have been some pretty good also rans.
Valencia and Deportivo have had good runs in the league and Champions League.
Sevilla and Atletico Madrid each are 2-time UEFA Cup/Europa league winners, and at least twice there has been an all La Liga final.
Just go to the coefficients, folks.
Good for him, we need him sharp for this summer. Im glad he did not go to the MLS.
ATX_ColinX2
Yeah Biff called this yesterday.
It’s better for him to play now than to sit a bit before MLS starts up.
It was all over BS yesterday.
Jones later tweeted: I hope the Turkish fans will appreciate my particular style of hard-nosed turnovers, aggressive passing to the other team and exciting hustle to get back after losing the ball.
While I dont necessarily agree with your assessment of Jones, I did find this hilarious…
I just snorted.
Damn google translate…
he failed to leave out the customary 3 hard fouls and one yellow card per game average that he brings to the table.
meant he failed to add..
To state the apparently not too obvious: He is the most accomplished midfielder to ever put on the USMNT jersey:
He was key for Schalke’s 2009 Bendesliga title
He consistently has played top shelf soccer for Schalke in both league play and Champions League over the last three years.
+1
Jones is a stud.
Claudio Reyna may disagree with that statement, and for that matter, John O’Brien may disagree too, based on his all to brief Ajax days.
Accomplished? No, Caudio was not even close. Claudio played for mid-tier teams at best. Noobs don’t realize that Man City won absolutely nothing and never went to Europe before about 5 seasons ago. JJ started for a team that went deep in the UCL every single season.
This.
Reyna captained a Bundesliga side and won two Scottish championships and participated in the Champions League with Rangers. This “noob” was not even referring to his Man City days. I am not saying JJ’s accomplishments are not notable, just that Reyna deserves his due as well.
yes, he used to be really good. so did tom dooley
Meh. Usta, wuda, shuda. Different time, different jugador amigo.
2009 Bundesliga title? Schalke hasn’t won the Bundesliga since 1957-58.
I stand corrected they finished 2nd
As a USMNT fan, and someone who does not care at all about Schalke…..I don’t care at all what he has done at his club team. I do care dearly about what he has done for the USMNT, and unfortunatley it has not been much, at least not much good. Del Griffin’s assesment of Jones’ play for the US is spot on, with the exception that he forgot to add his perssistence to be out of position up the field leavig his defenders exposed.
You have not been paying attention then
Word, this is a great point.
comment above for skyman,. White Kix comment is not such a great point.
-1.
Not sure what you mean by accomplished, but in terms of USMNT caps, goals scored, assists, whatever metric you care to use, there’s at least two midfielders active on the roster now with more success than Jones. One of them is that guy we love to love – Deuce. The other is that guy we love to hate, LD.
Jones hacks down Ronaldo, Ronaldo slaps back and whacks Jones in the head…two red cards, rest of the game 10 vs 10…win, baby
There is no way on EARTH Christiano Ronaldo will be shown a red card in the World Cup Finals. FIFA will have a firing squad waiting outside the stadium for the referee who does that, with Sir Sepp holding the sword and barking out the orders.
Then I guess JJ will have to break his leg.
+1, and scalp him
Good move.
Meh. Not a huge fan of the Turkish league, but I suppose it’s better than riding the pine for Schalke.
The Turkish league has fallen by the side of the road recently. However, he’ll start and that’s all that matters leading up to the World Cup.