By IVES GALARCEP
FC Dallas isn’t wasting any time spending the big chunk of allocation money gained from Brek Shea’s $4 million transfer to Stoke City, with the club revealing on Friday that talks were underway with Toronto FC for the services of French striker Eric Hassli.
The official FC Dallas twitter account revealed the trade talks on Friday evening in rather surprising fashion:
NEWS: #FCDallas is in talks with Toronto FC and close to finalizing a deal to bring Eric Hassli to Dallas.
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) February 1, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe development comes more than two weeks after SBI reported that Hassli had requested a trade from Toronto FC.
So what would a trade consist of? The most likely scenario would have FC Dallas shipping TFC allocation money with Toronto sending Hassli to Dallas while picking up some of his salary. It is tough to picture a scenario where Dallas would bring in Hassli and also pay his Designated Player salary. The deal could be similar to the trade FC Dallas and Toronto FC made last season for Julian DeGuzman, a deal that saw TFC pay most of DeGuzman’s salary.
Here are some more MLS stories to catch you up on the pre-sesaon action in the league:
TIMBERS PART WAYS WITH BOYD
The Portland Timbers went into the off-season with a long list of things to do to transform the club. At the top of that list was getting rid of Kris Boyd.
SBI reported two weeks ago that the Timbers had succeeded in dumping Boyd, and Portland confirmed that news on Friday, announcing that they had terminated his contract by mutual consent.
Boyd never quite settled in with the Timbers, and was seen as a poor fit for Caleb Porter’s possession and high-pressing system. He managed seven goals and one assist in 25 matches for the Timbers.
With Boyd gone, the Timbers have salary cap room to make some more personnel moves before the start of the MLS season.
Portland has already made a plethora of major moves, including signing midfielder Diego Valeri as a Designated Player and trading for Canadian midfielder Will Johnson and Jamaican forward Ryan Johnson.
PRE-SEASON SCOREBOARD
The Colorado Rapids defeated the San Jose Earthquakes, 1-0, courtesy of a Jamie Smith goal off an Andre Akpan pass on Saturday in Tucson. (HIGHLIGHTS)
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The New York Red Bulls defeated the Columbus Crew, 2-0, on Friday in Tucson, Arizona. Rookie Ian Christianson and Kenny Cooper. (RECAP)
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Guest trialist Jerome Mechak scored the lone goal in Sporting Kansas City’s 1-0 win vs. the Portland Timbers in Tucson, Arizona on Friday night. Soony Saad left the match with a bruised tailbone. (RECAP)
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What do you think of these developments? Think FC Dallas is wise to go after Hassli, or is it a risky move? See Portland’s move to dump Boyd being a big plus, or did they cut the Scottish striker loose too soon?
Share your thoughts below.