Top Stories

UVA’s Span signs with Djurgarden

DjurgardenLogo

One of college soccer's top attacking talents is headed overseas.

After not being offered a Generation adidas deal by MLS, University of Virginia winger Brian "Cobi" Span signed with Swedish club Djurgarden on Tuesday. Djurgarden had also offered former Akron and current GA striker Darren Mattocks a deal before he ultimately signed with MLS. United States U-23 centerback Gale Agbossoumonde played there earlier this year as well. 

A 6-foot-3 winger with tremendous pace, the 19-year-old Span had seven goals and five assists in his sophomore season at Virginia and was ranked as the No. 7 overall prospect on Fox Soccer's most recent Big Board. Djurgarden's season in Sweden's top flight begins on March 31. 

What do you think of the signing? Would you rather see young American talents start their professional careers in MLS or head somewhere like Scandinavia?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If sweden is living the dream, then you must not good dreams. These kids go for the money. Sweden is not better then MLS. Also have you seen SKC new stadium?The dream of playing guys like Henry and beckham and playing in the MLS is a dream.

    Reply
  2. One thing that the scandanavian clubs can offer that most MLS clubs can’t is the opportunity to live the dream. Would you rather be 19 and a professional soccer player in Sweden or Kansas City? Exactly.

    Reply
  3. My understanding is it is about three times as much. A guy like Span might get paid 35-60 K in MLS while in Sweden he triple that.

    Every player is different but if club can develop him the way he needs to be developed and if Span can adapt to the culture, the weather, being away from home for the first time, etc. then from a financial standpoint it’s a slam dunk.

    Plus he is more likely to be seen by the bigger clubs in Europe.

    As a pro athlete he is always one bad two footed slide tackle away from career ending injury so he may as well get on with trying to attain his dream as soon as he can.

    Life is short and all that.

    Reply
  4. what do the best usmnt players have in common (howard, dempsey, bradley, donovan, bocanegra, altidore)? they all played in mls. i dont know how much more money these young guys that are passing on mls are making but i would play in mls now and then make bigger money in europe.

    Reply
  5. Span is fast and good…..will grow tons on Europe, come back to MLS and make a name for himself…..he’s young with time to ripen…..

    Reply
  6. Span is a good player…pacey. He will do well in Europe and hopefully become equipped to play in MLS. Right now he is not ready; I have watched him for 2 years now and he IS good, but not yet good enough. Intelligence on and off the ball + working on BOTH sides of the ball are a must for him if he wants to play professionally.

    Reply
  7. It’s hard to know of course who is getting a fairer evaluation. My point is just that when someone tears up MLS, they can generally jump the pond. Think Brek Shea, Perry Kitchen, Andy Najar… As to coaching, there has to be something said for really understanding your coach both linguistically and culturally… but yeah, there’s progress to be made on that front…

    Agudelo needs to switch teams to a place where he’ll be the #1 striker, there are too many MLS teams that need his kind of speed and finishing up top. Red Bull just struck gold with Luke. R. Rogers I’ve never been sold on. (was at a DCU reserve match against the Crew and someone shouted out “you look like the Robbie Rogers who was on the National Team” He gave a little smile rather than a scowl so I’ve always thought highly of him for that)

    Reply
  8. As a native of Charlottesville, I have watched B ” C” S play for two years now…IMO he is not MLS ready or worthy. Pacey? Yes. Intelligent on the Ball? No. At least not as a winger; when he was moved into center of the park, he actually did well…..incisive, quick passing combined with 1 v 1 mentality made him hard to predict. Created chances there….I was always surprised when folks spoke of him beng GA/MLS worthy. Didn’t compute.

    Reply
  9. What is exciting is that, in addition to MLS, there are more leagues beginning to actively recruit young, promising American players. As for Span, I have not seen him play, but it sounds like he’s got great physical tools. Hopefully he develops in Sweden.

    Reply
  10. Span is not good enough for an mls GA deal. He is a good athlete with bad feet. A project at best. I wish the best for him but certainly not in the same class as mattocks or wenger.

    Reply
  11. Buying MLS merchendise and watching it on TV won’t really do much for the teams/league. Only full stadiums will raise the player salaries…and only in 5-10 years from now when the labor agreement is up for review.

    Even then you’re not likely to see a system that can complete (salary wise) with the European Leagues. Average player in Scandinavia makes 2x that of a similar player in MLS and the better the EU league the greater the multiplier.

    Besides the league needs go invest more money in youth development at this point than shelling out salaries. Selling players is where most clubs make their real Money.

    Reply
  12. All good points, but do you really think very good MLS players get a fair evaluation/exposure from Euro scouts relative to players playing in Europe? As far as not getting PT, that seems an equal risk in MLS as even the elite talents can ride pine (Agudelo, Rogers). The other question is about the level of coaching. There are some good ones in MLS, but not across the board, not yet.

    Reply
  13. If more people went to the games and bought season tickets, watched the MLS games when they do show the on TV, and get a apparel item or two…there would be more money in the league which means they could be more comfortable increasing the salary cap team levels…which means they could afford to pay a much higher player minimum level to better compete for players vs lesser EU leagues. I live in FL so I cant get the season tickets, but I catch every game I can on MDL or at the bars when it shows and just stocked up on my Christmas list for some new MLS gear 😉 If a couple of you can go out and grab some new season tickets for your local club then we should all be set in 2013 😉 If we can get closer to at least what they pay in Sweden, Belgium, and Norway rather then what you can make as a sales team lead at the Version store (no disrespect) it will be easier to get more of these guys right out of school even without a GA contract.

    Reply
  14. This.

    I respect the crap out of Ives but projecting college players is incredibly difficult. Almost impossible to see all these players play on a consistent enough basis to form a sound opinion.

    Reply
  15. I agree the class should be expanded a little, makes sense that the generation adidas numbers resemble close to that of a full starting lineup. Not to mention there are more teams in the league than ever before drafting players.

    Reply
  16. Not even putting an offer to him is dropping the ball imo. Perhaps he would have stayed had he at least been offered. I get that the funds are limited, but as soon as a one of the guys above him passed, the money should have moved down the table to the next top athlete.

    Reply
  17. I haven’t been able to see anything on this kid but 6’3″ and blazing speed on the wing with a bunch of goals at the collegiate, kinda sounds like Brek Shea.

    Tall fast winger who can score, look at the past year Brek has had. This may be a loss to MLS since he was not offered a GA contract.

    Reply
  18. MLS were willing to give him a GA contract. I think he’s been eyeing a move to Europe all along. He’s trained with European clubs last season also

    Reply
  19. Gonzalez has never played for the national team so even a petition would likely fail….perhaps he can qualify for a spanish passport via a spanish grandparent….

    Reply
  20. MLS drops the ball… again. An extremely fast, 6’3 winger rated as the 7th best prospect in the draft… and without a GA contract he most likely would have been making the league minimum.

    Reply
  21. Not so sure–quality is quality, if you have it, it will show in MLS and Euro leagues now know (after examples like Deuce) to scout MLS. Meanwhile you run the risk of not getting PT, not making a marketing name for yourself and falling off the Nat radar.

    Reply
  22. An actual question is why are we reading about a Gonzalez to England rumor? Is there any chance the gov’t will waive the requirement for Gonzalez? Does Becks have that much influence?

    Reply
  23. As an MLS fan you certainly want them to stay here and help grow the league.

    As for whats best for the player(and USMNT), that probly depends on the situation. But for someone young with real talent, you have to think starting out somewhere like Scandinavia is better. Spend a couple years learning, getting better, more exposure, and of course an EU passport…opens the door later to transition to England or one of the other big leagues.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Ryan Cancel reply