The Columbus Crew have been no strangers to receiving offers from English clubs this summer as the club reportedly turned down a Bristol City approach for goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Now, it appears another English club is chasing the Crew’s captain.
The Athletic reported Tuesday that Blackburn Rovers has made a $1.25 million offer to the Crew in an effort to sign midfielder Wil Trapp. The report states that the offer is nowhere near the Crew’s valuation, which sits somewhere closer to $3 million.
“There was an offer made and we’ll consider offers,” said Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter. “But we have a certain valuation for our players, and if those valuations are not met, there’s not going to be an agreement.”
A potential move to England would be aided by Trapp’s ability to qualify for a work permit thanks to his Greek citizenship. The midfielder has spent his entire career in MLS after signing as a Homegrown in 2012.
Trapp has started 143 of the 146 matches he’s appeared in for the Crew while serving as the club’s captain since the start of the 2017 season. Trapp recently captained the U.S. Men’s National Team during the group’s summer friendlies and January camp and has made six appearances with the senior team.
i don’t doubt what Johnny razor is saying about the euro value of trapp. i think it’s also easy to see berhalter’s point of view as well. if they give up trapp, then how much money would they need to replace him? they want to get better, not worse, so if they find a good player in south America maybe they need 3 million to lure him away from his current club and come to columbus.
btw, weren’t the rovers brad freidels old club for many years?
Crew would also only be allowed to spend 750,000 of the transfer fee on salary. Now if their move to Austin were to go through they wouldn’t mind having the remain to spend on their new academy.
My problem with trapp is he is 25 and in his prime so I don’t see a move to Europe helping him improve. If he would have had the chance 2 maybe 3, 4 years ago he should have done it because at this stage he probably won’t get any better. A decent smart and quality player but from a usmnt supporter opinion not much is gonna change his position with the team when they have younger and better players already in Europe or about to make the move(Adams,Mckennie, Parks, Emo, Acosta, Scott and I’m sure Durkin won’t be in MLS much longer). His development stage is gone and he is what he is and is and will prolly always be a fringe.player for whoever the next manager will be unless beralter gets the job.
I know some of the players I listed play different CM positions but my point was there are options and it depends on the formation and style of play. What the Usmnt need is a CM that is good on the ball and can hold possesion in tight spaces and distribute
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a fan of Trapp. He’s a decent player, but he is not what I would call an elite player in MLS. IMO he’s a Perry Kitchen type….if he ever does go to Europe he’ll likely rebound back to MLS within a year or 2.
Same old bs from Mls
Twellman, Ching, De Rosario, Ream (Arsenal offer), Hamid, Sean Johnson, Steffen, Larin, Acosta, …
How many years of wasted player development and growth have our NT prospects suffered because Mls over values itself as a competitive league and it’s breakout players.
Time to grow up. Cash in and develop the next breakout player and be realistic about your current place within world soccer and value sales accordingly.
$1.25 Million is a lowball offer. $2.5 Million is more realistic and will get the ball rolling.
I think to get him in this window you are probably correct that Crew would need somewhere near that amount. Making a run in the playoffs with Ricardo Clark or Mohammed Abu isn’t that appealing. Also, by holding out through three international windows it gives Trapp a chance to show against some quality opponents. Sarachen likes Wil and will likely play him in several of those big matches giving Trapp a chance to increase his value to top league clubs.
Transfermkt has Wil Trapp valued at 1.75 million so by their metric Rovers are much closer than the Crew. The Crew can afford to get a little less for Trapp as well because as a homegrown player they don’t have to share the transfer fee with MLS and sorry Akron Zips no money for you either. I expect to see Trapp move before next season when the Crew likely move to Austin.
$1.25m is lowball as is $1.75m. Larin was $2.3m-plus supposedly. Cameron I think was somewhere in the $2.5-3m range. Jozy was $10m. Davies may be $22m. Trapp to me would be $3-5 million in this market.
I think many English teams see Americans as cheap buys — and perhaps the valuation reflects that bias — but I think that’s a holdover from the era when we didn’t demand transfer fees and would even let players walk.
Your 3-5 million is far more overvalued than Rovers 1.25 is under. People see the money thrown around to stars like Pulisic and think that brings up the market for average players like Trapp. It doesn’t, especially if the team making the offer isn’t in a top league. Blackburn only has one player on its entire roster that brought a transfer of over 1 million when they came to Rovers, a 21-year-old forward they signed from Newcastle this week. Championship squads that aren’t rotating up and down to the EPL just can’t spend 3 million on DM. So what you are really saying if you think he’s worth that is that he is a top 5 league player which as a huge Wil Trapp and Crew fan seems too high. You might find a club in Turkey, Netherlands or Portugal that would pay that but only a top team in one of those leagues and none of those are likely to sign a 25-year-old DM for that kind of money.
JR: Inability to pay doesn’t set the market. You’re saying he’s not worth $3-5 million because the team/league that bid on him can’t afford what I suggested, and bid less. All he needs is one team and just because Championship teams aren’t as resourced doesn’t mean he’s not worth the price. It means Cbus is not selling him there.
In a roundabout way, to me, you’re proving my argument that many English teams are looking for cheap talent, and that we may no longer be an easy supplier of same. After all, they need players who can get a work permit which implies USMNT quality. How many of them are going to be bargain basement priced?
FWIW while giving me guff in the abstract, it sounds like Berhalter agrees with me, they have a number in their head and this wasn’t in that range. Or they’d be a lot further along.
From where I sit, you guys are saying the same thing actually. This is probably why no deal happens.
Inability to pay does actually set the market, Crew can ask for 3 million all they want but if no one that wants Trapp is willing to pay 3 million then his market value is less than that. If EPL or Bundesliga clubs have interest in Trapp his value will go up because those types of squads can afford that type of fee.
@johnnyrazor @The Imperative Voice
Thank God for discussions like this. I come less and less to this board because of the adolescent nonsense being posted. However, this is good and respectful discussion.
That being said, I have to slightly disagree. While it is true that Inability to pay (of 1 or 2 buyers) does actually set the market, the inability to pay a certain range by a huge set of market does if those that can pay don’t see the value. I believe that JohnnyRazor is saying that Championship clubs don’t pay 3-5milion for DMs and the clubs that do pay that much or more are in the Top 5 leagues with a couple exceptions of big clubs in big leagues.
I have not seen all the data, but, anecdotally, I would think that DM don’t command big fees outside of the PL, Bundesliga, top half of Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1. On top of that he is 25, so his sell on value at 28/29 is limited given his limited club and international success (in their eyes) — which is something most clubs consider because most cubs sell players on.
Larin, plays in the position that commands the greatest fees and is younger so is not a comparison. I would argue 1.5 – 3mill (max) is what they can expect.
I hope a deal can be worked out, Trapp needs to get out of here and go to europe after being a good MLS servant for his whole career thus far
I’ve got no problems with a modulated move to a smart destination but he’s an IQ type player and I wouldn’t even say he dominates MLS. He does not have to move to elevate his game. MLS doesn’t suck so bad he can’t grow and he isn’t so great he’s already above us.
what i’m alluding to with a move abroad is a new environment that can push him, instead of staying in MLS where it can get comfortable for long time servants of the league. A new challenge in and of itself can make him better because he’d be fighting for his place week in and out. However, i do agree that with MLS getting better/deeper, the assumption that players need to travel abroad to better their careers or the NT will become less of a “thing”
Always been a Trapp fan and would love to see him give Europe a try, but that is a really low offer for a guy as important to his team as he is. Makes you wonder how much homework Blackburn did on him and the Crew. Maybe they just saw his recent games with the US?
I think the Crew’s GM wiped the offer someplace unspeakable and then sent it back. They have way underestimated the market.