Photo by ISI Photos
U.S. Under-23 national team goalkeeper and 2008 Chicago Fire draft pick Dominic Cervi is on trial with Scottish powerhouse Celtic. Ron Waxman, Cervi’s New York-based agent, confirmed on Wednesday that Cervi has been with Celtic for more than a week as part of an extended trial.
The No. 12 overall pick in January’s MLS Draft, Cervi turned down the Fire’s offer of a minimum salary contract, valued at about $32,000 a year, but could wind up a big winner if he can secure a contract from Celtic, which is in the market for goalkeepers, especially with the strong likelihood that starter Artur Boruc will leave this summer.
Celtic is the same club that made a strong push for Chivas USA and U.S. national team goalkeeper Brad Guzan only to have Guzan turn them down in favor of Aston Villa. Guzan then had his work permit application denied.
A 21-year-old native of Oklahoma, Cervi played for the U.S. Under-23 national team in Olympic Qualifying last month. He started in two matches for the U.S. team, including the 1-0 loss to Honduras in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship match.
lol, understandable the amount be irritating…
couldnt resist, just discouraged what they pay these players when you compare them to the extreme example of claudio reyna.
But i told myself i wouldnt let it bother me until the new CBA was written from here on out
reid- i cant help but feel you’re being sarcastic again… 😀
Brett– sorry I will never be sarcastic, joke, make fun of MLS, players, salary cap or Alex Fergusons red nose. Please accept my apology
jeffe- he got picked up by Nowak at the Combine, not before…. simply said, he asked him to come out to the camp, and made the team… which means he was already scouted by the Fire and the MLS… and as Spencer pointed out, hes not starting keep, he’s backup… and 99% sure he wont be going to the Olypmics… truthfully his play wasnt stellar by any means, again he shows potential..
who many U20’s, U23’s, etc.. dont pan out?? lets stop blowing this kid out of proportion before he even gets on a team…
Reid- They are not forced…. they sign the contract themselves…. you’re sarcastic retort holds no water…
the DEV are typically unproven players… whats the point of paying out precious cap space on players that may or may not pan out?? once they pan out, then they sign for more….
altho i do feel the min. should be inc., at the current salary cap, a team cannot afford to splurge much on them….
RPH, those jackets came out about 8 months before the WC and soccer.com was selling them. But I am not sure if they still are.
Jeffes, He isn’t a starter, he probably won’t even go to the olympics because of his pathetic display at the qualifiers. And him not signing a contract ain’t helping him either.
One of the kids is making 17,700 and the kid Dube that came off the bench is making 12,900.
Not sure, but i believe that is called forced servitude.
There should be some rule that those are developmental figures only, and if there is any 1st team action then the salaries have to go up and reflect someone who is no longer “developmental”
my $.02
Does anybody know where I can get a jacket like the one Cervi is wearing in that picture?
How could a player starting on the US under 23 team not even make the mls scouting radar? Are they really that inept?
KingSnake- I stand by my point that if i were making min. wage, id rather be getting it through playing soccer…. not to mention in 2-3 yrs you can negotiate your contract to something 3-4 times larger (assuming you are still good enough to be on the team)…
groovester- i agree the cap needs to increase, but i think the min. salary needs increased first… i agree that its completely rediculous the money we offer, but im not sure when the MLS will do it…
true you can get that working at walmart, but common, you wouldnt enjoy making minimum wage at any other job… at least while you play in the MLS you are getting paid min. wage to do something you enjoy.. not to mention to keep healthy and in shape… :D..
6/hr * 8 hr/day * 5 day/wk * 50 wk/yr = 12k. Work an extra day a week, or get promoted to french fry cook, and you are making minimum MLS wage.
Yes, Brett, I agree with you that the $32,000 is not out of line in the MLS context of things. I just think it’s another reason the salary cap needs to be increased. It’s laughable. Isn’t one of the NE Gambian players making something like $19,000. Isn’t that about the federal minimum wage? You can get that at Wal-Mart
groovester- the kid wasnt forseen being picked in the 1st round…. whether its like ives said (bad scouting) or the fact he just wasnt rated that high and had a good combine, it doesnt matter…. 32,000 is not all that bad for a non-gen. adidas rookie…..
does he deserve more?? dunno… truely the kid has potential, however, the kid is still unproven… yes he went to the olympic quals (leaving lots of people not sold on him), but simply on his performance in the Combine… if the kid wouldve been granted Gen. Adidas status then id be all for giving it to him, but if he’s simply looking for the money of a typical gen. adidas player, then ill say itd be hard finding any MLS team willing to pay that kind of cap on a unproven rookie who wouldve been a backup for most the year, if not more
wow, $32,000. Like someone said. MLS is FANNNNNTASTIC!
I hope he signs.
by the way Ives the beginning of the article is missing a U.
If he signed with the Fire he would have been the backup there too. From what I saw of him with the U-23s, I hope we have a better options available for the Olympics. He is not close to ready for that.
I’d like to see some Yanks at Celtic but it will be tough for him to crack the lineup, even if Boruc is sold.
I would reckon that Cervi will make more backing up Celtic’s reserve team than he would have made as a GA player in MLS. If he’s just chasing dollars, then Europe is far and away his best bet. If contract details are released, I’m fairly certain he’ll be making more than anybody that was drafted into MLS this year.
*IF* he actually signs with Celtic, Cervi will be a backup on the reserve team. No way he’s getting anywhere near the First XI …
Ives, thanks for the clarification.
One thing that Cervi has is size. The guy is a monster.
WOW. The US keeper dynasty rolls on!
Why should the Fire sign him to a higher-paying GenAd-type contract when he will count against the cap. The roster exemption that GenAd players get is a HUGE perk. Anyway, in seeing Cervi at the Olympic qualifiers, he isn’t that great right now and needs work. I doubt he’ll get in with Celtic, and if he does, he’ll be the reserve gk.
You got to give it to Cervi. He knew what he was worth. Even if he doesn’t stick with Celtic, he’ll sign with a club somewhere in Europe and make four times as much money than the MLS offered him.
A little off topic, but when is Chivas USA going to cover their arses and sign a ‘keeper when Guzan leaves this summer?
It might just be the Cuban GK on trial now.
If he signs I will be shocked. He will have to do better than he did during the qualifiers. He was atrocious during those games and looked out of place like it was his first time to play keeper.
Ives,
I’m not defending the rules, just explaining what happened. As a Fire Fan I’m not happy that we were not able to sign him. Sometimes the rules benefit a team I.e. Marmol and sometimes they don’t. I can’t wait until the time comes when MLS can do away with these ridiculous rules.
Will you be posting a link to the “From the pitch” broadcast for those of us who missed it?
I don’t want to see Boruc leave, but it is going to happen. I would have loved Guzan in the Hoops but I like what I saw from Cervi in the olympic qualifiers. I hope he sticks with the Bhoys.
MLS rules they’re FAAAANNNNNNNNtastic!
(but necessary)
he really did NOT look good at all during the couple of games in the olympic qualifying. look at some of the other GKs who have (howard) and will (guzan) gone abroad at that age and they were light-years ahead of where cervi is at. his distribution was poor (at best), decision making was slow, and in most cases wrong. sure hes a big guy, but when it comes to the nuances of the position he has A LOT to work on. he has some time, but lets let get all excited about his prospects yet.
Good for Cervi. I hope he signs and opens a pipeline of Yanks (or Yanquis) going to Celtic.
Benny Freefaller (I mean Feilhaber) should trial at Celtic Park.
El Rey, if by ‘benefits’ you mean money then yes. Cervi wanted money closer to what some Generation adidas players got because he was drafted BEFORE they were. That’s common sense in every other pro league in the country, but not in MLS, where there are second-round picks making twice what some first-rounders are making.
Joe Namath, that tale was the spin put on by some. There were no perks, simply a better contract. Cervi wanted a contract somewhat similar to the contracts of other first-round picks. MLS wouldn’t budge an inch and now you have a young talent out of MLS.
Something I don’t think people realize is that Cervi never turned turn a contract offer before the draft because he wasn’t offered one. He was never offered a Generation adidas contract so the notion that he was the one who chose not to sign before the draft is false.
MLS dropped the ball with Cervi because it didn’t scout him and didn’t know much about him. The league’s personnel department just isn’t equipped to scout and evaluate draft prospects, which is why you end up with teams drafting players like Pat Phelan and Dom Cervi in the first round while players signed by the league slip into the second round even with the enticement of not counting against team’s salary caps.
Cervi was clearly the best goalkeeper at the MLS Combine but did that lead to an MLS offer before the draft? Nope.
From what I have read he was asking for benefits given to players who signed with the league before the draft. The league wasn’t going to break policy for him, maybe if he was playing for LA, but since he was drafted by the Fire they didn’t.
I thought part of the reason why Cervi couldn’t come to an agreement with MLS is that he wanted the perks that went with being a GenAd player without actually being a GenAd player. After Cervi’s stock shot up when he was pulled from the Combine by Nowak, Cervi’s demands also soared.
He has an EU passport. No WP necessary.
So was it the Fire who offered 32,000 dollars or the MLS?
Guzan couldnt get an English work permit. Perhaps the scottish regulations are more lax.
Why would he get a work permit if Guzan didn’t?