Photo by ISI Photos
Maciej Zurawski has been one of the most commonly mentioned names during this MLS off-season. Linked with Los Angeles and most recently with the Columbus Crew, the Polish striker looked like a good bet to join Major League Soccer.
Not so fast my friend.
Celtic has announced that Zurawski is heading to Greek club Larissa.
Though the Crew never confirmed that Zurawski was its target, several reports linked Columbus with the Celtic striker as the designated player candidate the Crew was looking to sign.
Columbus may have never even been the front-runner for Zurawski’s services in MLS. According to a source within the league, FC Dallas had filed a discovery claim on Zurawski and had been in lengthy negotiations with the striker about signing with the Hoops. FC Dallas wasn’t keen on adding Zurawski as a designated player though, which may have pushed the Polish international to ply his trade in Greece.
We may never know what would have happened in FC Dallas actually had the claim in on Zurawski and the Crew was willing to pay more money. The Hunt Sports Group teams were spared an ugly tug of war.
What will Columbus and FC Dallas do now? Good question.
Talk about gut check day for a Crew supporter. I could bad mouth the club that I give about a thousand dollars to a year, but I won’t. Whoever wears the Black and Gold this year will hear “Columbus Til I Die” chanted by the faithful in Columbus. I just wish a player like Zurawski would be in Crew Stadium to hear it. Ahh well, that’s what they make Strongbow for, right? Thanks Ives for constantly distracting me at work with your constant website updates. Quality.
i’m a crew fan and check this site compulsively
I wouldn’t characterize all Crew fans as hating Ives. Many of the do, but I for one really enjoy his in depth digging and research. I had the chance to meet Ives at the MLS Cup and let him know that I was in fact one of the few Crew fans who don’t hate him. I know I am the exception but don’t lump us all in together. We are all Soccer fans here and except for Matt’s idiotic comment we enjoy the hard work that Ives puts in on a daily basis. Keep it up Ives!
Once again it appears that this deal collapsed do to simple economics. Everything I have seen says that MLS clubs can not spend more than $500k on a transfer fee. The British media is reporting that Celtic received 500k pounds for the player. By league rules roughly a million dollar price for the player would have priced Columbus out of the market.
With the current transfer limitations the MLS will continue to be more successful acquiring players that are out of contract.
GLD156, I don’t think larissa is all that bad. I believe they knocked blackburn out of the UEFA cup. That being said, it is sad that MLS is not more desirable than a team doing so poorly in the greek league.
“MLS just keeps losing young US players to Europe and now losing talent to inferior teams. ”
In Europe it’s a soccer-culture. even if the team is inferior, you get to be famous when you’re walking around and people give a shit. the players like this.
BTW – I am not a Crew fan … I am a DC United fan who knows way too much about MLS Eastern Conference fan culture for my own good.
Crew fans all cannot stand Ives because of the way he covered the Danny Szetela situation when RBNY were interested in acquiring his rights, and again when the Crew ‘pre-emptively’ claimed Matt Jansen when it was not apparent they were going to sign him (I am not taking sides on that situation).
There is a lot of history here, and Crew fans don’t want to hear bad news from Ives.
HSG is a sad ownership…. they had the chance to partner up young gaven with GBS and zurawski that would of been nice….
well i never knew about Fc dallas but that would of been huge with cooper and zurawski….
well tomasz frankowski is still out there…. Ives what have you heard with frankowski and chicago????
well Miroslav SZYMKOWIAK is out there he is a very good midfielder i wonder if a mls team will go after him
especially that last sentence…
Sorry you had to edit my comment Ives, but Matt was being rude.
Matt, any time a team is interested in a player they must file a claim on that player, regardless of the player’s qualifications. That is the process the league uses. I was told that FC Dallas filed a claim for Zurawski as well, so in theory, there could have been a battle between Columbus and FC Dallas for Zurawski.
Not sure how me stating that is anti-Crew. That’s pretty dumb, respectfully.
Matt, go die.
I don’t care if he was going to RSL, Colorado, or Columbus. It is a shame that any MLS team would lose out to Larissa in the Greek league who sits 10th with a max capacity stadium that tops out at 13,000. MLS just keeps losing young US players to Europe and now losing talent to inferior teams. That Larissa team would probably finish in the basement of MLS. Crap
Matty, chill out and back off Ives. The man does yeoman’s work for those of us who love soccer in the United States.
If you don’t like his work. Go away.
As for the loss at Columbus, it’s too bad. But there is no guarantee he would have done that well here. It just wasn’t worth paying a huge (by MLS standards) transfer fee. Hopefully the Crew will regroup and make a run at another scorer.
When will MLS ever learn it does not have a legally sanctioned cartel like the NFL, MLB and NBA, and that it can’t force players to go where they don’t want to, for piddling wages, when they have literally thousands of other options?
Wow…why all the hate on Ives?!?! Looks like you are being the (jerk).
Respectfully, you’re an idiot Ives. MLS teams can’t file discovery claims on a national team player who has been playing in Europe for some time. If both teams wanted him, it would have been a bidding war between the two teams.
What will Columbus do now? The usual, have another crap season where we struggle pathetically and miss the playoffs. Unfortunately, we have become all to used to this.
I’m curious about the discovery process in MLS. I agree with Steve’s comment above. How can a team file a discovery claim on a senior international that has played for high profile clubs in Europe?
I pity both teams for having HSG as owners. Clark Hunt doesn’t care about his father’s soccer legacy…and he doesn’t really run the NFL’s Chiefs very well either. Kid needs to find something else to do with his life besides running his father’s teams into the ground.
Columbus should just use its DP slot and lure Martin Palermo. They might may or may not make the playoffs, but with GBS, the tandem may inspire the younger players to play at a higher level.
By then they may know who plays at Boca.
Apparently Gomez to the Crapids is just about done and the new ESPN booth will be just JP and Harkes, no Arena…
I thought discovery players could be trumped by DP signings? (just like an allocation can trump a discover signing)
I’m so clueless when it comes to MLS rules. How can 1 team have a “discovery” claim on a 30+ yr old player who has played for his national team in Europe as well as for a great club (Celtic).
Wheres the discovery there? Essentially could Columbus go out and discover van Nistelroy? I mean.. they are named after the explorer!
Geez, I wonder why the guy wouldn’t want to play for Columbus…?
This is BS. Columbus offered him a contract.You better talk to Bob Warzecha that’s all.HSG is a cheap bustard lol.
Ah no hope columbus, you just got a bit sadder.