Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
When Matt Besler and Graham Zusi signed Designated Player contracts with Sporting Kansas City, it represented a landmark deal for the club and Major League Soccer.
However, the deals were also a great piece of business for Sporting KC and owner Robb Heineman.
According to a report from Sports Illustrated, both Besler and Zusi signed nearly identical five-year guaranteed contracts to stay with Sporting KC. Both players will earn a prorated base salary of $600,000 in 2014, $650,000 in 2015, $700,000 in 2016, $725,000 in 2017, and $750,000 in the final year of their deal, in 2018. The deal includes incentive bonuses as well for winning MLS Cup or scoring individual awards such as MLS Defender of the Year.
The deals are worth much less than the $1.25 million in guaranteed compensation that U.S. Men’s National Team centerback Omar Gonzalez earns with the LA Galaxy.
In addition, the report states that new Houston Dynamo Designated Player signing DaMarcus Beasley will earn a base salary of $750,000 in his contract this season.
Here are some more notes from around MLS:
BEASLEY NOT READY TO CALL IT QUITS WITH USMNT
DaMarcus Beasley may be 32 and towards the tail-end of his career, but he’s still prepared to contribute for both club and country.
Ahead of his first match since signing as a Designated Player with the Houston Dynamo, Beasley told reporters that he was still open to playing for the U.S. Men’s National Team in the future.
“I’m still available until Jurgen [Klinsmann, US head coach] tells me or doesn’t call me in,” Beasley told reporters after training on Thursday. “I’m sure if it did go [that way] that I’ll have a chat with Jurgen and get his thoughts on how long or how he sees a fit or if he watches my games or what he thinks. I’m still available; I’m not retiring anytime soon.”
Beasley, who played in his fourth World Cup this summer as a left back after re-inventing himself, will be 36-years old when the next World Cup comes around. However, there’s still a number of tournaments he could play a key role on, such as the Gold Cups in 2015 and 2017 as well as the announced Copa America Centenario in 2016.
At the end of the day, I want to play at the highest level for as long as possible,” Beasley said. “I’m not going to give that position away easily. I’m gonna fight until my legs can’t run, until Jurgen says we’re going another way.
“If Jurgen sees me in 2018 that I’m still the left back of the U.S. national team then great, but I’m realistic and know the quality we have in this country.”
GOODSON SIDELINED FOR ANOTHER TWO MONTHS
The San Jose Earthquakes will be without one of their best players for the better part of the next two months.
Earthquakes head coach Mark Watson confirmed after training on Thursday that Clarence Goodson would miss at least eight weeks with a left toe injury. According to Watson, Goodson will spend the next four weeks with the toe immobilized in order for it to heal and then the following month working to regain his fitness and match sharpness.
“We’ve been told eight weeks for the isolation and the rehabilitation side combined,” Watson told reporters.
Goodson has only played 10 matches this season due to a number of niggling injuries, the toe one being the latest. Though he started on July 11 in the Earthquakes 2-1 defeat to D.C. United, he’s missed four of the last five matches with a “sprained left big toe.”
JOHN PLACED ON INJURED RESERVE
FC Dallas defender George John’s season is over.
The club announced on Thursday that the veteran centerback underwent a successful operation on his right knee and was placed on injured-reserve, ending his season before it was able to begin. John had been trying to recover from knee problems all year and did not make a single appearance in 2014.
According to a club release, Dr. Michael Nguyen of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital “performed an osteoplasty of the medial femur to repair the knee.”
In addition, FC Dallas placed Hendry Thomas on the season-ending injured reserve list. Thomas suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament on July 9 in a U.S. Open Cup match against the Carolina RailHawks.
FC DALLAS SIGN CRAFT AS HOMEGROWN PLAYER
FC Dallas have signed one of the USA’s most promising prospects.
Seventeen-year-old winger Coy Craft has been signed as FC Dallas’ 12th Homegrown Player, and is eligible for selection immediately. The Glade Spring, Virginia native joined the FC Dallas academy in 2011 and starred for the FC Dallas U18s to win their fifth straight U.S. Soccer Development Academy Texas/Frontier Division title.
“We brought Coy [Craft] into the Academy in 2011 and the coaches did an excellent job fostering his talent to get him to this next level,” FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja said in a statement. “He’s athletic, but he also has good technical ability. He’s been earning more and more opportunities with the youth national teams and we’re excited to see his potential realized as he continues to mature.”
———
What do you think of this news? Impressed that Sporting KC signed both Zusi and Besler to deals worth less than $1 million per year? Do you expect Klinsmann to continue to call-up Beasley? How big of a loss to the Earthquakes is Goodson?
Share your thoughts below.