Top Stories

Sporting CP exercise option on Montero

FredyMonteroSportingLisbon2 (AP)

By DAN KARELL

Fredy Montero is no longer on the books of Seattle Sounders.

Sporting Club de Portugal announced on Thursday that they’ve exercised their purchase option on the Colombian forward, making him a full member of Sporting Lisbon. The option provides Montero with a new contract through 2018 and a release clause of $81.29 million.

Montero’s full transfer means that he no longer belongs to the Sounders, freeing up cap space for the club. The move could also potentially allow the Sounders to add former MLS All Star Marco Pappa to their roster. Pappa signed on Wednesday with MLS and Seattle is first in the allocation order for his services.

The Sounders confirmed the sale of Montero late Thursday afternoon.

“Fredy has been and will always be a special member of our family,” said Sounders FC owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer. “Fredy had a wonderful career in Seattle and is continuing that success overseas. Hopefully his quality of play gives him an opportunity to be added to the Colombia World Cup roster. We wish him well with this next chapter of his career.”

Montero joined Sporting Lisbon on loan in July after spending the previous six months with Millonarios in his native Colombia. Since signing for Sporting Lisbon, the 26-year-old forward has been a revelation, scoring 13 goals in 16 league matches. Sporting Lisbon are currently in second place behind Benfica in the Primeira Liga standings.

Prior to moving abroad before the 2013 MLS season, Montero racked up 47 goals and 34 assists in four seasons with the Sounders, though he was unable to replicate his success in the playoffs.

Earlier this month, Spanish publication Marca and Colombian newspaper El Pais reported that Sporting Lisbon’s purchase option included a transfer fee to the Sounders of anywhere from $13.6 to $16.3 million. The reports also included that Montero had a buyout clause of $81.29 million, which was confirmed on Thursday.

———

What do you think of this news? Think it was inevitable? Do you wish Montero would have returned to MLS? Do you expect the Sounders to re-invest some of the potential transfer money this season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If Sigi Schmid didn’t jerk Montero around by benching him and changing positions on him while in Seattle, maybe he would have blown up sooner. Sigi was quoted that he wants players who will sacrifice for the team. Hence, one of the reasons Montero was loaned. Nobody wants to play for the obnoxious Schmid who can’t have any player on his team with an ego bigger than his own.

    Reply
  2. how come EDDIE JOHNSON didn’t go to Portugal?

    it’s clearly an easy league to score in

    Will Bruin, Omar Salgado, Jack McInnerney. Head to Portugal

    Reply
  3. But, but, but… I thought MLS players were below-average. Does this mean that actual talent passes through the MLS? There is no way!

    Reply
  4. How is he scoring at a much higher clip in Portugal than MLS?
    Maybe MLS isn’t some joke league for washed up players to come excel in.

    Reply
    • exactly. it’s incredible.

      akin to say a player from the Polish 1st division moved to the PL and has scored 20 league goals from august-christmas. people would be curious.

      usually high scoring players from lower leagues move to larger leagues and score at a less consistent rate

      Reply
  5. It’s amazing how well a striker can play when he actually gets service. MLS never deserved a player like Montero in the first place. It’s a shame he wasted some of his good years in MLS.

    Reply
    • Yeah, it was terrible of MLS to sign him to a contract and give him an opportunity to pursue his dream and continue to earn a living. Then they refused to let him go and held him hostage.

      Wait–he wasn’t forced at gunpoint to sign that MLS contract?!?! And he got paid the salary that he was promised?!?! And now he’s playing for a historic European side, making even more coin?!?!

      Hmmmm. Kind sound like the Montero case might be a “win-win” scenario for all parties involved.

      Maybe MLS didn’t take advantage of the kid, after all. Maybe he paid his dues and progressed professionally.

      Maybe MLS didn’t ruin him after all…

      Reply
      • I am not sure what yankiboy is referring to in that overly exaggerated rant about gunpoint and force. I would have to side with Norman on this one as I always thought Freddy was too good for MLS. Was he immature and somewhat inconsistent during his time in MLS? Has he seemed to grow up and come into his own at Sporting? I think we can all agree on those facts. I just think that Freddy Montero being in MLS when he was 22-26 was a gift that we didn’t deserve. Maybe Sounders fans feel a bit differently but who knows.

  6. So do we have a confirmed or semi-confirmed purchase price?

    If it’s 10-15mil that’s huge. If it’s 1.5m to 3.0m, the Sounders kinda got screwed.

    Reply
    • Probably all numbers are correct.

      The Sounders wouldn’t get to keep all the transfer fee. MLS probably keeps most of it because of the original transfer fee, the years Fredy played in Seattle, etc. all counting towards the total / differences needed for raw allocation dollars to come back to Seattle, plus the team in Colombia the Sounders originally loaned him from owned a piece, etc.

      So the Sounders probably cleared the smaller amount for themselves, but probably not as allocation money, just money to invest in the Sounders (like youth teams) or whatever.

      Good for Seattle. Good for MLS. Good for Fredy. He was a joy to watch (most of the time).

      Reply
  7. how much profit will this bring in?

    13 goals in 16 matches and suddenly a guy who was probably worth 2 million euros (6 months ago) is now worth maybe up to 15 million.

    impressive for MLS. we need to loan out our youth players to Scandinavia or 2nd division Germany/Holland

    Reply
  8. why do the Portuguese put so heavy clauses on their star players? Hulk, Falcao, Montero have had say 1-2 seasons of success and suddenly they were/are worth 60 million euros?

    Reply
    • I believe the Portuguese League has the second largest surplus of transfer fees besides the Brazilian league so they know what they are doing. The players are not worth the buyout it just means the club can refuse anything up to that value. If Montero goes to the World Cup and say scores 5 goals and gets Colombia deep in the tournament someone will drop 60 million Euros with out a problem. Why not slap a big buyout on him. If he keeps up his scoring pace he at least should be the leading scorer in the Portuguese League.

      Reply
    • Its to protect the team. A release clasue just means if a team pays it they can get the player regardless of if they want to sell. So the high release clause is pretty much Sporting’s way of saying unless we get an offer we cant refuse, or you blow up in the world cup, your not going anywhere unless we want to move you. Its standard business

      Reply
    • It just means they can’t be forced to let them go unless they are paid that much. Not that he will necessarily be sold for that much.

      Reply
  9. I don’t think Montero was counting against Seattle’s cap while out on loan. I think Seattle is getting little to nil out of this deal, beyond good karma for helping Fredy get to Europe.

    Reply
  10. realistically they are simply recoup the money they already spent on Dempsey. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them splash around a little before the world cup. Possibly just after.

    Reply
  11. Adrian Hanauer was saying they would break even on Montero, and you hear numbers of $15 million ?

    Someone wants it a little unclear.

    Thanks for some great memories FM ! Good luck.

    Reply
  12. Good to see Montero lighting it up in Europe. It was a pleasure watching him play in Seattle, and he’s taken his game to another level. I think his best days are ahead of him.

    Reply
    • Actually, it really wasn’t always a pleasure watching him play. It seems, perhaps, that he has matured greatly since leaving Sounders. Good for him, he always had the talent.

      Reply
      • He matured a lot during his tenure at Sounders. His flopping decreased and his respect for referees improved greatly during his MLS time.

        Freddy is also very durable and consistent over his whole career, so he knows how to take care of himself and stay focused. His good attitude and work ethic are really underrated by a lot of American fans.

      • I disagree. People complained about his effort, but often it was the poor play of his teammates that affected his play more often than not. When he’s on the field, there’s always the chance he’ll score a beautiful goal.

        You can’t say that about many players in MLS.

Leave a Comment