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FC Dallas confirms rejection of Cooper bids

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                                                                         Photo by ISIphotos.com

FC Dallas general manager Michael Hitchcock has confirmed SBI’s report from earlier today that the club has decided to turn down all offers for all-star forward Kenny Cooper.

"We received offers from multiple international clubs for Kenny Cooper during this transfer window, but we elected to decline them all," Hitchcock said in a written statement released by FC Dallas. "The international interest is a credit to Kenny, FC Dallas and the ever increasing talent level in Major League Soccer.

"Winning championships is our priority, and we feel strongly that Kenny will continue to be an important part of our success as we compete for the MLS Cup this year and in the future."

Now that it is official, what do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Like Oranje Mike states, good US players should look abroad and research their genealogy tables. No point in wasting your precious years in MLS if playing in better leagues with better grasp of the global market.

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  2. MLS has shown why players will continue to opt out of deals in the future. Players don’t get paid decent wages and when an overseas club comes snooping around they shoot the deals down. If I was a young player I would looks at something like this and what NE did to Twellman and may think twice about entering MLS.

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  3. Hitchcock said, “Winning championships is our priority, and we feel strongly that Kenny will continue to be an important part of our success as we compete for the MLS Cup this year and in the future.”

    Well, last I looked, FC Dallas didn’t seem to be on a playoff run. Prior their win over LA (who has shipped more goals than any other MLS team), Dallas last win was in June against Chicago, who went 0 for June anyway.

    Yes, Dallas sits in a play-off spot right now, but with Houston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chivas and Colorado separated by 2 points, that playoff spot is going to be in jeopardy all season long.

    If Cooper continues his goal scoring run (he has 11, one less than Donovan) he could win the golden boot. I hope to heaven Bob Bradley calls him in for the next round of World Cup qualifying (same with Edson Buddle). Cooper’s value will go up. It sucks for Cooper, but maybe MLS is getting serious about keeping players in the league. Now, if they would only pay them more.

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  4. No offence papa bear but you clearly have no idea about the English league setup. Cardiff are in the league below the premiership and hence if they get promoted they will be in the premiership.

    As for your comment that if Cardiff do nothing this season (I take it you mean dont go up to the premiership or get the the FA cup final like last season) then he will be forgotten, get your facts straight. Cardiff have sold many players to premiership teams over the last few season, each going for between £2-5 million (right now thats roughly $3.8-9.7 million) and one of these players (Aaron Ramsey, a home grown cardiff player aged 17 and not a first team regular) just went to Arsenal for £5million!

    So dont be an idiot and say that cardiff is somewhere players just vanish, they have fought hard to keep 3-4 players who are still with the club because they’ve been linked with premiership clubs!

    As for the transfer, I’m disappointed as KC looked a nice prospect and would’ve had every chance to succeed here (hopefully getting us to the premiership). Hope this doesnt bite him in the ass!

    But the mls is growing very quickly since beckhams arrival so he might strike lucky, but I think that maybe time will run out for him (MLS players are still seen as risky transfers, as nobody really knows the standard of the league) but I hope not.

    Anyway good luck MLS fans, I for one think you could have a great league in a few short seasons 🙂

    Sorry for the long rant 😉

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  5. Papa Bear,

    Are you for real? Please do not talk down to other persons who post on this board. I will repeat,…maybe you can re-read…..Ken Cooper was in line for a $1 million salary at Cardiff and a $1.2 million salary in Norway. He should be disapointed with a missed chance at a $900K pay increase.

    On the transfer front,…MLS did the right thing.

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  6. I have to think Cooper nixed this move, either for more money this year or in the hopes of securing a bigger transfer to a bigger club at the end of the MLS season.

    As far as I can tell, there are not a lot of players “rewarded” for sticking with the MLS by getting national team call ups. Big Bradley wants the best players, and most of our best players play (or will be playing) for other leagues. Also, it does not appear Cooper factors into any current national team plans even though a lot of fans would like to see what he can do there given consistent playing time.

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  7. @Posted by:BrianK | July 29, 2008 at 09:38 PM

    Transfer fee doesn’t = salary. There was no way he was going to be paid a million. At that fee, $500-800K is more likely. Still a pay bump, but considering how much more he could make in a year, it’s not a bad move. If he moves to Cardiff and they do nothing this year he is a forgotten player and totally off the radar of any big club over there save the bottom feeding relegation fighters in England.

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  8. @Posted by:Dannyc58 | July 29, 2008 at 04:44 PM

    of course teams have a say. NE killed Twellman moves more than once.

    I don’t mind the move. The transfer fee is pretty low and the leagues he’s going to aren’t exactly super.

    If he keeps up his pace in the league, and the USMNT team call ups that MUST be imminent given his form and your dire need for quiality play from forwards I have to believe if he stays healthy he is moving to an actual big boy league for near Altidore money this time next year. $3-$4 million is just not an impressive enough number for a guy who is 1 goal shy of leading the league in scoring (who is also doing it in style)

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  9. Business wise, isnt it buy low sell high? I think they can get much better for Cooper. Yeah it sucks for Cooper but its great for the league. They are actually making money on players and balancing out the flow of players going out. Its smart business. I think they will eventually sell Cooper, but to a better league and somewhere that the MLS can get credit for breeding a great player (yes I realize he was at Man U.) You cant sell all of your product (soccer players) and you have to buy low (80k) and sell high (over 4 million) thats a pretty good investment.

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  10. hopefully 6 months – 1 year from now he will be a USNT regular, have more options to choose from, and be a better “yank abroad”

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  11. This is bad news for Kenny Cooper,….earning $100K when he could have been earning $1 million.

    However,….MLS can’t be in the business of giving its players away. Tottenham paid $32 million for Luca (“I am 10 lbs away from being a jockey”)Modric. If Modric is worth $32M then so is Shalrie Joseph. Good for MLS sticking to its guns.

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  12. I think this move (or non move) is bad for MLS. What stud college player is going to want to play in MLS if they know MLS is going to constantly pull this kind of stuff? I think it’s short term thinking that will hurt MLS in the end.

    Now if Cooper decided to stay on his own, it’s a totally different story, but MLS has a history of holding players back.

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