The Seattle Sounders bought out the rights to Colombian striker Fredy Montero on Wednesday, and secured his services for the long term by making him the club's third Designated Player.
Montero joins Blaise NKufo and Alvaro Fernandez as Seattle DP players, and is the second MLS player in two days to have their contracts graduated to DP status (Real Salt Lake's Alvaro Saborio being the other).
Is it a wise investment? In a word, yes. The 23-year-old striker was the Sounders' most dangerous attacking weapon the past two years, all while facing the distraction of a potential transfer. Now, with his future secured in MLS, Montero will be able to focus on helping the Sounders win its first MLS Cup title.
With Saborio and Montero being newly-minted designated players, the real question is what other players will be able to parlay performance into DP status. Will Toronto FC give Dwayne DeRosario the money he is looking for? Will Colorado use the DP mechanism to keep Omar Cummings around? Will other MLS teams look to lock up their young standout with big new contracts?
What do you think about Seattle's move to lock up Montero's services?
Share your thoughts below.
Huge move for the league to keep talent here versus can’t afford to do so.
Very excited for next season.
good move Seattle, Montero deserves the DP status
why would Seattle sell him to Europe ?
They dont need the money.
i think it is fantastic, and don’t discount the fact the montero got his green card. He has been very proud of it, and talked of even trying to get citizenship. So you could see him stay longer then you think.. Also, don’t underestimate the future of the league with how sound the finances are, would you rather go to spain or greece and its a crap shoot when you get paid or take a bit less and know when you will get paid.
Honestly one thing i was hoping for in collective bargaining argreement was an option for one to be used as tenured DP slot for people who have been in the league for say 3 years and the DP for those players would be slightly less than a normal DP’s for people to be encouraged to keep their stars because I never saw this possible for that a team would upgrade a player not named donovan to DP status. Its great to see Montero and Saborio rewarded for performing well on the field and kept in our league.
Adu?? haha
You pay 250k, dispersed amongst the rest of the teams in the league, and you gain a third DP slot
The salary cap increases yearly as part of the players collective bargaining agreement. I believe its mandated to grow by 5%
All I want to say is I hope to see more Americans getting the DP slots and really helping our countrys soccer program grow. I would like to see players like Altidore, Adu, Bocenegra, Onyewu, Davies, and Felhieber all come to the MLS and get DP slots. That would really improve the league 10 fold.
Yes.
Amen. Keep the youngsters here. I’ve heard both Agudelo and Omar Salgado and Ream say in recent interviews that they want to go to Europe. We need to keep these players in North America–at least for 4 or 5 years. Which means we gotta pay them.
This is a great move. Congrats to Fredy for betting on Seattle and MLS, and Seattle betting on Fredy.
As for salary cap, has it even been announced yet? It’s expected to rise for next season as the league grows and rosters expand. Also, not sure if Blaise makes the same salary this upcoming season.
Baby steps, Pat. Baby steps.
Marshall got dropped and will be in the Re-entry draft.
This is the evolution of the DP rule. At first it was merely a ploy to lure big name, yet over the hill stars to the United States. However, now it is being applied to the young stars that the league is creating. Its keeping these youngsters home that will truly improve play and cause the league to grow exponentially and compete on a worldwide basis.
This is great news for Sounders and MLS. Kid has proven himself. In actuality I believe he would forego MLS and go to Europe and then try to aim to be with the Colombian National Team. Great move Montero and thank you!
Looking great, but in reality, who is going to get dropped from Seattle? With the 2.67 million cap they now have their top ten players’ salaries coming in at 2.1 million [assuming all continue the same salary into 2011 of course]. 500k to round out the other 20 roster spots save for the few homegrown spots. Something has gotta give in Seattle.
Does it include a bonus for declaring for the Nats?
We don’t need any more Altidores heading to Europe, this is good for the league.
If Najar’s contract was reworked, then should Agudelo’s follow soon?
DCU just redid Najar’s contract. He was making some crazy low salary (under 50k). Remember, he was signed out of the academy and I don’t think anyone thought he would be so good so soon. He is still only 17 or so. Its way too soon to give him a DP slot. Maybe in a couple of years. BTW, I totally agree with the other comments about how good it is for the league to start signing younger foreign players and then signing them to DP contracts. Now that each team has 3 DP slots they can know both bring in a proven veteran and keep there younger players that have become stars. I think there is value to both.
Is it ridiculous to think that DCU should sign Andy Najar as a DP?
Yeah, this is always something that has confused me. The team pays for the signing, but the transfer goes to the league? Or am I misinformed?
That was probably part of the reasoning behind them getting the deal done now, however the biggest part is locking up one hell of a player to keep building around.
Good move by SSFC, it’s a good sign for the league that a 23 year old can be made DP. With Sabo and Montero, hopefully more players with good skill now, rather than good skill once had, will enter the league.
Also, what’s the 3rd DP rule?
Doesn’t the transfer fee go to the league?
(SBI-That changed several years ago. MLS teams get 2/3rds of transfer fee now.)
On the outside looks like a good move. But I have a question, Could this be a move for Seattle to lock him up so they can reap the benefits of selling off to Europe? If they didn’t wouldn’t he be a free agent transfer soon and they would get nothing?
Good move by Seattle (and RSL for that matter.) I hope to see this trend continue in the future.
Important move by the Sounders to make, I think next year will be Montero’s best.
“It shows a growing maturity in the league and another path to DP signings by bringing plays in, developing them and rewarding them with DP contracts. It offers another reason for YOUNGER players, whether American or from Africa and South/Central America, to play in MLS. Not only might they find a road to Europe, they may reap signficant rewards here.”
Agreed. League is growing.
Tony, I couldn’t agree more. With 2 teams making MLS Cup with no DP’s and no “Name Stars” and now these 2 signings (Montero/Saborio), I think we are going to see a definite change in the way teams use their money and their roster spots.
This is truly great news.
This day may be more important in the long run than the day david Beckham signed. It shows a growing maturity in the league and another path to DP signings by bringing plays in, developing them and rewarding them with DP contracts. It offers another reason for YOUNGER players, whether American or from Africa and South/Central America, to play in MLS. Not only might they find a road to Europe, they may reap signficant rewards here.
Great, great moves today and a testiment to the growing quality of the league.
Good decision. He will continue to develop. Exciting player to watch.
I like the move, great for MLS to develop prospects and be able to reward them when they turn into stars. Ideally we’ll get another couple of great years out of him, then sell him to Europe. I’d love to get the pipeline of quality South American prospects moving through MLS.