Reggie Cannon’s lengthy wait to continue his club career has officially come to an end.
Reggie Cannon has signed with English second-tier side QPR as a free agent signing, the club announced Tuesday. Cannon, 25, had been without a club since late-June after leaving Portuguese club Boavista due to reported unpaid wages.
Cannon signed a four-year contract with QPR, providing him with his first experiences in England.
“I am very excited,” Cannon said in a club interview. “I have always wanted to play in England, this is an incredible opportunity to show what I can do. QPR is a very historic club and I can’t wait to start my career here.
“I have always wanted to attack overseas football because I think that is where the best players are, and that is how you find your better game and develop, so I really think this will help me achieve the best that I can be as a footballer,” he added.
Cannon completed his third season with Boavista earlier this year, whom avoided relegation during the 2022-23 Primeira Liga campaign. The former FC Dallas homegrown right back featured as both a fullback and centerback last season, logging 32 combined appearances in all competitions.
In total, Cannon scored one goal in 88 combined appearances for the Portuguese top-flight side.
“I am really, really pleased to get this over the line,” QPR manager Gareth Ainsworth said about Cannon’s signing. “We have fought off clubs to get him and I believe Reggie will become a big asset for us.
“He can play on the right side of midfield as a wing-back, he can play as a right-sided centerback, so he is going to add real competition for places which is what we need,” Ainsworth added. “With him being without a club over the summer he is going to need a bit of time to get up to speed but I know he is raring to get going with us.”
Cannon has earned 28 caps to date with the USMNT, being a part of the Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup-winning squads in 2021.
QPR is 19th in the English Football League Championship table and next hosts Coventry City on Saturday.
Unlikely, he’s not that good. I’m just glad for him that he may have a job.
But, post Tim Ream, you never know.
(“Whom [sic] avoided”?!)
Er, why _would_ one of those entities block this?
Bless his heart, surely he at least deserves to go somewhere where he can get a steady paycheck. Who was last at QPR from the US — Geoff Cameron, maybe?
It seems to me that having toiled unsung for Boavista for so long, and being willing to learn languages and live abroad and put himself out there, should at least say something about his courage and his character, and his openness to a new culture like Cape Verde, which hopefully was interesting despite it all.
Let’s hope someone at QPR also appreciates those scrappy traits, whether or not he can ever progress again to be in consideration for the USMNT (say, in Gold Cup).
Boa sorte, Reggie! (-:
Oops, my bad — not Boa Vista, but Boavista in Porto. No islands, and even less reason for them not to have paid him for his labor. /-:
As IV states below if Boavista disputes it, it could be tied up in legal.
Apparently QPR left caveat that this was pending “Fifa, EFL, and FA approval” this story will get even crazier if one of those entities blocks this.
like i said the other day, he unilaterally said he was voiding his boavista deal for not getting wages. they disputed it. when i thought about it, compared to say cohen who is inexplicably sans team, cannon poses a lawsuit risk, or that boavista challenges any attempt to register him at any of the levels you just mentioned. they would say i have a contract, he wasn’t transferred, we are out of the transfer window, and try and say they paid him. i assume cannon and agent, to get this deal done, handed QPR some paperwork trying to show missed direct deposits, communications saying cut us some slack on your salary being late, etc. no, i wouldn’t be confident he’s through the gauntlet until FIFA swaps his registration and he sees a field. even if he’s right about everything.
I also wondered about work permit he hasn’t played for US this year.
JR,
“work permit he hasn’t played for US this year”
Burnley and Nottingham Forest had previously been reported as interested in Cannon. And Reggie is not the only player Boavista has screwed over. There is some smoke to this fire.
It’s not like announcing Mourinho leaving Roma to manage in Liga MX.
No guarantees, but I doubt QPR would have gone this far with Reggie if their “permit team” didn’t think he had a shot at getting a permit.
From what I’ve seen the process seems to be very much a case-by case basis.
I’m way too lazy so here’s a link for anyone who wants work out Reggie’s chances.
https://worldfootballindex.com/2020/12/work-permits-premier-league-post-brexit-english-clubs-efl-libertadores/
Portugal is a Band 2 league and MLS is a Band 4 league. Reggie has 28 caps and is 25.
If in fact Reggie is a free agent, he will be much prized because there is no transfer fee, the transfer windows don’t apply to free agents, he’s an international, while he’s not a star, he is versatile and at least reasonably solid. And most likely, he’s very affordable. A bargain.
Reggie seems like a really great guy and hopefully this works out for him.
Vacqui: just seemed weird wording by QPR, maybe they put it on all their press releases and it didn’t mean anything. I just did some quick math and it looked like if they filed it before Sept. 27 he’d pass easily but the math got trickier if they didn’t get to count the Sept 2022 camp.
I think this will be a good move for Reggie, the Championship suits his game, and if he can nail down a starting spot and flourish he’ll be right back in line for call ups to the USMNT
Unlikely, he’s not that good. I’m just glad for him that he may have a job.
But, post Tim Ream, you never know.
Sometimes going to Europe is not the best path. Raising national star in Dallas then off to Europe where he doesn’t get paid and drops off the face of the earth. Reggie is an excellent player and all the best to him getting back to his old self and getting paid.
Rising national team star is a reach. I’m an FCD fan, but anyone that saw him as a star had rose colored glasses. He also wasn’t forgotten. Since 2019 GC he was called in for 16 out of 19 camps. Missing 2 with injury one with Covid. Every camp he was healthy for, he made. Reggie is a good player but not great. He’s not as technical as Dest and not as athletic as Scally, Yedlin or Moore. Playing as a CB probably hurt him as perhaps his FB skills slipped a little without consistent reps, but unless you’re a Reggie fan you likely weren’t too disappointed he missed the WC.
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Reggie seems like a really good guy and I hope the best for him. When he left Dallas he was telling people that he had to learn French. Then he ended up at Boavista that was owned by the owner of Lille at the time. The rumor was Lille was stashing him at Boavista to bring him to Lille the next year. Lopez the owner was forced to sell Lille because he wasn’t paying his debts and the transfer never happened. Ironically Lopez was allowed to then buy Bordeaux even though Boavista wasn’t paying players like Cannon and reportedly didn’t pay FCD for the transfer.