Two teams near the bottom of their respective conferences have made a trade involving a pair of talented forwards.
The Portland Timbers and Philadelphia Union finalized a deal that will send Danny Mwanga to Portland and Jorge Perlaza to Philadelphia, the clubs announced on Wednesday.
Mwanga, the Union's first draft pick in club history, will now return to the area where he played high school and college soccer in a quest to get more playing time. The 20-year-old Mwanga had made five starts in nine appearances this season for Philadelphia, but he failed to find the back of the net and had only one assist.
The Colombian-born Perlaza gives the Union another offensive weapon to go along with the likes of Freddy Adu and streaky striker Lionard Pajoy. Perlaza, who will not take up an international roster spot due to him having a U.S. Green Card, started six of the 10 games he played in this season for the Timbers. He, too, does not have a goal this season.
What do you think of this trade? Who won? Expecting Mwanga to tear it up with Portland? Do you see Perlaza thriving with the Union?
Share your thoughts below.
And Nowak will be gaffer when the MLS All Stars take the pitch… I think this “homefield, home manager” rule should change. In this one case I agree with the other American sports in that the previous years winning team’s manager should get it.
I’m a Union fan too. I will not be going down to PPL for the All Star match. I despise Chelsea, I despise the fact that Nowak gets to manage MLS squad, and I don’t believe any Union players deserve a spot on that team with how this seasons gone so far. Granted most that does not come down to the playersthemselves, but the managing and tactics. Potentially Adu, Marfan, and Williams could/should be in the mix.
Have no idea what the exact details are Philly fans, but there may be even more to despair in the short term. According to Paulson (Timbers Owner) Mwanga is actually cheaper than Perlaza as far as actual cash AND cap hit.
The reason is Perlaza’s transfer fee was a multi-year deal. Yes, Mwanga takes home a lot more than Perlaza, but Perlaza comes with a bill from Deportes Tolima which also counts against the salary cap.
If true, Philly got absolutely taken.
Since MLS is so secretive about money matters I have no idea if true or not, but Timbers say they will be actually paying less and taking a smaller cap hit than they were with Perlaza.
Perlaza was a transfer from Deportes Tolima. Nobody knows (as with all MLS players these days) what the transfer fee really was, but it was rumored to be paid over 3 or 4 years (so currently 1.5 years into that) and not so much they wanted to waste a DP spot on him (so probably total is right around the same as Mwanga).
The Timbers first DP (Chara) actually makes only $193K but his transfer fee was big and frontloaded so they used the DP rule for him.
My guess from the Left Coast is that Novak burns so many players emotionally and mentally that they refuse to play for him. Novak needs new blood that he can control before the newbies figure out what’s up and get burned out on him, as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in two years, Perlaza, Lahoud, etc. get traded, as well.
However, Union fans, it could be worse, Ruud Gullit could be your coach.
Mwanga needs time to grow. He wasn’t getting that in Philadelphia. I’m sure Mwanga makes more money than this other guy, so that frees up some money for the Union to potentially sign someone (or hold onto it).
On another note, I couldn’t imagine being anyone on the Philly roster right now. If Nowak is willing to trade Califf, Mwanga and Le Toux all in the same year, you’d have to be constantly wondering if you’re next.