Just when you thought it was safe to buy your Kenny Cooper FC Dallas jersey comes word out of the UK that Cardiff City manager Dave Jones has not given up in his pursuit of Cooper despite FC Dallas declaring that it would not sell Cooper this season.
"It has been made a little bit more difficult because we are dealing far away with the MLS. But is it dead and buried? No, it is not dead and buried yet," Jones told Welsh tabloid The Western Mail on Thursday. "I did not even know it was supposed to be dead and buried until you told me."
Apparently Jones didn’t get the memo from FC Dallas general manager Michael Hitchcock, who was emphatic in the club’s desire to keep Cooper through the rest of this season.
Talk about things getting interesting. Now Dallas could find itself in a sticky situation if Cardiff improves considerably in its $4 million offer. If Cardiff comes back with a $5 or $6 million bid would the Hoops really turn that down? And more importantly, how bad will the team look selling Cooper after giving fans the "Our focus is winning" line after initially turning down offers from Cardiff and Rosenborg?
As for Cardiff, Jones sounds like he thought Cooper was on his way before interest from multiple teams turned the Cooper chase into a circus.
"With Kenny Cooper everything was quiet, moving along nicely and suddenly all hell breaks loose and other clubs are alerted," Jones said. "It became a major stumbling block because other clubs made enquiries and why is a player then not going to listen to those?"
The same questions remain. Should FC Dallas sell Cooper if a $5 to $6 million bid comes in? Would Cooper be better off leaving now or staying in MLS until the winter transfer window? Is Cardiff City the best place for him?
What do I think? I think a $5 million bid would be extremely tough to turn down and I also think that size a bid would bode well for Cooper’s standing at Cardiff. I doubt many Coca Cola Championship clubs are spending that kind of money on reserve forwards (heck, there are several EPL teams that wouldn’t spend that on a reserve forward).
If I’m Cooper I’m demanding an immediate pay increase and he could honestly make a good case for deserving a bump to designated player status at least for the remainder of this season (considering Duilio Davino makes about five times what Cooper makes something should have been done in this area well before the transfer circus).
What do you think? Share your thoughts below.
