Reggie Cannon may be locked up long-term by MLS side FC Dallas, but it hasn’t stopped European teams from reportedly having him on their radar.
Bundesliga side Freiburg has joined Belgium clubs Anderlecht and Gent in the race for Cannon’s services, VoetbalNieuws reported. Cannon was reportedly being linked with several European clubs at the end of 2019, but FC Dallas proceeded to sign him to a new four-year contract this past March.
The 22-year-old Homegrown Player has totaled 71 appearances for FCD in all competitions. Cannon has registered three goals and four assists for FC Dallas, recently helping them to an MLS Cup Playoffs berth in 2019.
Cannon has also moved up the ranks within the U.S. Men’s National Team, earning 11 caps since 2018. He is also an option for the USMNT U-23’s, who will take part in Olympic Qualifying in Spring 2021 following the postponement of this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Freiburg finished eighth in the Bundesliga this season, missing out on the final European qualification spot by one point. Should Cannon make the move to Germany, he would join a lengthy list of Americans in the top-flight.
Gent finished second in Belgium’s First Division, 15 points behind eventual winners Club Brugge. They will take part in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round this Fall after finishing in the top five.
Anderlecht slumped to eighth place this past season, finishing six points from the final European qualification spot. The club has one American on their roster in midfielder Kenny Saief, who is currently on loan in Poland at Lechia Gdansk.
It seems unlikely that Cannon would move, three months after signing a new deal, but a lot could happen if the right transfer fee is agreed upon. Cannon and FC Dallas are set to begin play at the 2020 MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando on July 9th against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Belgian Jupiler is far superior to MLS and is a wonderful league for player development just below the top, top leagues in Europe. This is a league that has a very competitive promotion/relegation and playoff format, has produced top players (particularly defenders), and the top teams have opportunities to play Europa League and potentially qualify for the Champion’s League. Additionally, the player development in the Jupiler has been excellent as well. So, as long as it’s Standard Liege, Anderlecht, or Club Brugge, I’d love to see Reggie Cannon there for 2-3 years and if he grows beyond that level, then a Bundesliga or Premier League side.
when you start off with the Belgian Jupiter League is far superior to MLS, I had to stop reading because that’s a joke for clicks, right? If MLS was in europe it’d have spots open for Champions League too, so that means nothing in terms of which league is better! The way you answer that question is to ask players that have played in both leagues and not basing it on a leagues ability to play in Champions League
It’s really hard to compare leagues especially across continents and given MLS’s roster specifics it gets even harder. You can’t say MLS doesn’t have teams in the Champion’s leagues because they can’t. It’s hard even to say this player excelled in one league but not the other. Kljestan and Saief were average players in Jupiler League but Sacha dominated in MLS upon his return and Saief was good in very limited minutes before attitude or fitness sent him home early. Durkin couldn’t get on the field in MLS but seems to be a regular now for a mid to low level team. Most MLS teams spend their DP money on attackers so Cannon is actually going against better players in MLS than he may in Belgium. The big difference of course is depth, Belgian players 6-30 on the roster are most likely better. I’m not sure how deep in the league goes though. Anderlecht, Brugge, Gent would be top clubs in MLS but would Sint-Truiden make the playoffs probably not. Ten years ago Reggie would need to go to a Belgian side to be able to move to another (although that only worked for Onyewu) now if he’s patient he can go straight to Germany if he wants.
If he makes the move abroad, I’d prefer he go to Germany. The Belgium league is for the most part is equal to MLS, and therefore doesn’t represent much of a challenge. Yes, he may qualify for Europa League or early Champions League games….but the Belgium clubs usually get knocked out of those competitions quickly.
At least in Germany he’ll have to fight for minutes and if he is a starter can hope to have challenges almost every week.
^this makes sense!