The news on whether Matt Besler stays or goes continues to be a talking point among Sporting KC and US national team fans. The latest news has been coming from Greg Seltzer. Last week, Seltzer shot down the rumored move to Freiberg for Besler. He said that Freiberg isn't even looking for a central defender at this time.
Seltzer is also saying that Sporting is asking for what would be a club record fee. The club record fee is $6 million that the club received from Fulham back in 2008 for Eddie Johnson.
Seltzer had an update to the situation today, naming two of the clubs interested in Besler, and an apparently deadline in the proceedings. Seltzer said that there are 10 clubs interested in Besler at this time. Only one of those nine teams is in the Bundesliga, the other nine are apparently in England. He names two of those by name, Sunderland, who has apparently not put in a bid yet for the defender, and recently relegated side, Fulham, who have apparently put in a bid. A move to Sunderland would see him join fellow World Cup veteran, Jozy Altidore who joined the club ahead of last season.
For me, Sunderland would be an interesting, but rough move for Besler. Sunderland performed a great escape last year, avoiding the drop with some big results down the stretch, but the question will be whether they've improved the rest of the squad as well so they aren't in that situation this season. With Fulham you're going to a recently relegated side who likely will be a favorite to yo-yo right back to the Premier League in the 2015-2016 season. Besler could certainly play a role in that.
I'm still not sure which way that Besler is going to end up going, but according to Seltzer we won't have to wait long. Besler apparently has a deadline of this coming Monday for when he's going to make a decision.
Showing posts with label Greg Seltzer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greg Seltzer. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Feilhaber Heatlh and Rumors
Sporting KC news wise it's been a slow week. Beside news about Matt Besler and Graham Zusi being with the US national team, news has really been limited without a game this week. Really the only other player that's been in the news has been Benny Feilhaber. With his injury against the Houston Dynamo in KC's last match there were plenty of questions of how long Feilhaber would be out and whether it would require surgery.
Thankfully for KC fans we did get that answer this week, and it was good news. Feilhaber will not require surgery on his shoulder, and should return to KC after the World Cup break. The sprained AC join in his left shoulder he picked up against Houston forced him to be subbed out at half time.KC still has just under 2 weeks until their next league game on the 27th against the Portland Timbers. Feilhaber would potentially miss two games for KC though. KC plays Minnesota next Wednesday in the US Open Cup and if they win would face a match up against against either Portland or Orlando City's U23 team. Feilhaber has arguably been KC's MVP through the first part of the season, and losing him long term would have been a huge blow to Sporting KC.
And if you wanna believe some rumors, there's the chance that KC could find out what it's like to deal without him long term. Some rumors surfaced this past week linking three Liga Mexico clubs with the American midfielder. Two of the clubs said to be interested are Club America and Cruz Azul. America has previously been linked with bringing in American players, including Omar Gonzalez. Cruz Azul has also shown a recent interest in raiding MLS, picking up Jose Villareal, Michael Farfan, and Rafael Baca ahead of the 2014 MLS season. Cruz Azul also got an up close look at Feilhaber when the two teams met in the CONCACAF Champions League. The third team wasn't named by Greg Seltzer. Feilhaber though is said to be happy here and apparently KC still has one more option year on Feilhaber's contract that I can't see KC not exercising.
The thought of losing Feilhaber for good right now is scary. Feilhaber has been a key part of KC's offense, or has been the distributor from the defense depending on how Peter Vermes has deployed him. Alex Martinez has done a decent job in Feilhaber's more advanced position, but not great, while Olum may be a better defender, he doesn't have Feilhaber's passing ability. Thankfully, while this rumor may have legs, it doesn't look like Feilhaber will be moving. KC's already lost Oriol Rosell this transfer window, I'm not sure that the team will also sell Feilhaber.
Thankfully for KC fans we did get that answer this week, and it was good news. Feilhaber will not require surgery on his shoulder, and should return to KC after the World Cup break. The sprained AC join in his left shoulder he picked up against Houston forced him to be subbed out at half time.KC still has just under 2 weeks until their next league game on the 27th against the Portland Timbers. Feilhaber would potentially miss two games for KC though. KC plays Minnesota next Wednesday in the US Open Cup and if they win would face a match up against against either Portland or Orlando City's U23 team. Feilhaber has arguably been KC's MVP through the first part of the season, and losing him long term would have been a huge blow to Sporting KC.
And if you wanna believe some rumors, there's the chance that KC could find out what it's like to deal without him long term. Some rumors surfaced this past week linking three Liga Mexico clubs with the American midfielder. Two of the clubs said to be interested are Club America and Cruz Azul. America has previously been linked with bringing in American players, including Omar Gonzalez. Cruz Azul has also shown a recent interest in raiding MLS, picking up Jose Villareal, Michael Farfan, and Rafael Baca ahead of the 2014 MLS season. Cruz Azul also got an up close look at Feilhaber when the two teams met in the CONCACAF Champions League. The third team wasn't named by Greg Seltzer. Feilhaber though is said to be happy here and apparently KC still has one more option year on Feilhaber's contract that I can't see KC not exercising.
The thought of losing Feilhaber for good right now is scary. Feilhaber has been a key part of KC's offense, or has been the distributor from the defense depending on how Peter Vermes has deployed him. Alex Martinez has done a decent job in Feilhaber's more advanced position, but not great, while Olum may be a better defender, he doesn't have Feilhaber's passing ability. Thankfully, while this rumor may have legs, it doesn't look like Feilhaber will be moving. KC's already lost Oriol Rosell this transfer window, I'm not sure that the team will also sell Feilhaber.
Monday, January 07, 2013
Zusi on "Full Trial"
Last Friday we'd heard that Sporting KC midfielder, Graham Zusi would be heading to England to train with West Ham United before joining the US national team for "Camp Cupcake." At the time I stated that there is no "training session" that all the training session are also trials, that West Ham wouldn't have brought Zusi in unless they were interested at least a little bit.
Today according to Greg Seltzer, he confirms that Zusi's time in London is in fact a trial. It's one thing with me saying that all training sessions are trials. It's another thing when a well respected journalist like Seltzer calls it a "full trial."
That said, I'd ask Sporting KC fans to take a step back from the ledge. While Zusi's time with West Ham may be a full trial, I don't see Zusi leaving. The reason is that Zusi just signed a new contract with Kansas City before the beginning of last season. That new contract gave Zusi a nice raise and also prolonged his stay in KC. Now if a team like West Ham wants to come in and get Zusi, they're going to have to pay KC a transfer fee to get him. And with KC already having lost Roger Espinoza this offseason, it's going to have to be an extremely good offer for KC to part with the US national teamer.
OnGoal has also shown a commitment to winning and selling Zusi would, on the surface, appear to be counter productive to that commitment. On the other side of things though,while KC would suffer from the loss of Zusi, they do have a player that offers many of the same things that Zusi brings. Benny Feilhaber could step in and offer many of the same things that Zusi brings. Although I think at this point Zusi is the more polished player than Feilhaber, should Zusi leave, I think Peter Vermes could get some of the same things that Zusi brings. Not all of them but some.
Like I said though, I don't expect Zusi to leave, I expect he'll have a decent trial there, Sam Allardyce will say some nice words about him, talk him up, but he'll return to the States, head to Carson, CA, then Houston for the Canada friendly (and then hopefully to Honduras for the World Cup qualifier). He'll then return to KC to prepare for the 2013 season with Sporting KC.
Today according to Greg Seltzer, he confirms that Zusi's time in London is in fact a trial. It's one thing with me saying that all training sessions are trials. It's another thing when a well respected journalist like Seltzer calls it a "full trial."
That said, I'd ask Sporting KC fans to take a step back from the ledge. While Zusi's time with West Ham may be a full trial, I don't see Zusi leaving. The reason is that Zusi just signed a new contract with Kansas City before the beginning of last season. That new contract gave Zusi a nice raise and also prolonged his stay in KC. Now if a team like West Ham wants to come in and get Zusi, they're going to have to pay KC a transfer fee to get him. And with KC already having lost Roger Espinoza this offseason, it's going to have to be an extremely good offer for KC to part with the US national teamer.
OnGoal has also shown a commitment to winning and selling Zusi would, on the surface, appear to be counter productive to that commitment. On the other side of things though,while KC would suffer from the loss of Zusi, they do have a player that offers many of the same things that Zusi brings. Benny Feilhaber could step in and offer many of the same things that Zusi brings. Although I think at this point Zusi is the more polished player than Feilhaber, should Zusi leave, I think Peter Vermes could get some of the same things that Zusi brings. Not all of them but some.
Like I said though, I don't expect Zusi to leave, I expect he'll have a decent trial there, Sam Allardyce will say some nice words about him, talk him up, but he'll return to the States, head to Carson, CA, then Houston for the Canada friendly (and then hopefully to Honduras for the World Cup qualifier). He'll then return to KC to prepare for the 2013 season with Sporting KC.
Monday, December 03, 2012
More on Besler Interest Abroad but It Appears He'll Re-Sign
Two weeks ago we heard that out of contract central defender, Matt Besler had offers to play abroad instead of signing a new contract with Sporting KC. At the time there was no mention made of where Besler had interest from though. Today, Nate Bukay, Co-Host of The Border Patrol on Sports Radio 810am added to the speculation on Twitter posting 3 potential locations that he heard Besler had offers to trial at.
One team in the EPL, one in the Championship, and a team in Belgium have apparently offered trials to the MLS Defender of the Year. Queens Park Rangers while currently an EPL team are sitting at the foot of the table on 6 points, without a win and currently 7 points clear of safety. They recently hired Harry Redknapp to replace Mark Hughes. Birmingham City, the Championship level side is also struggling, but are better off than QPR. Birmingham is 19th of 24 teams in the English second division, on 24 points, sitting 9 points clear of the relegation zone. The Blues are also the home to US international Jonathan Spector. Both English teams would be quite hard for Besler to get signed by. The reason for that is the work permit process in England. Since Besler has no caps for the US team and has only been in one camp, Besler doesn't qualify for a work permit immediately and would instead need to go through the appeals process, similar to what Geoff Cameron went through to earn his work permit to go to Stoke. Going to Belgium would probably be easier to get into for Besler as getting a work permit there is not as hard as in England.
Of course the other option is that Besler re-signs with Sporting. And that's the word tonight from Greg Seltzer on his No Short Corners blog. Stating that despite interest in England and Belgium he's close to returning. This was one thing that absolutely had to get done for KC this offseason and the sooner the better. With Roger Espinoza already set to leave, the loss of Besler as well would have been a crippling blow for KC heading into the 2013 season. Fans have already been a little restless today with the Michael Harrington trade and Korede Aiyegbusi being released meant 6 players had left KC already this season, all defensively, and that's not counting Espinoza. But getting Besler re-signed would at least be a good positive step in the right direction for some of these fans (who I think are over reacting quite a bit) who are worried.
Heard through the grapevine that Matt Besler has a trial offer with Queens Park Rangers in the EPL. Hope @sportingkc can keep him...but...
— Nate Bukaty (@nate_bukaty) December 3, 2012
Heard Birmigham City and a club out of Belgium have made trial offers to Besler as well, but I have to think QPR is the attractive chance.
— Nate Bukaty (@nate_bukaty) December 3, 2012
One team in the EPL, one in the Championship, and a team in Belgium have apparently offered trials to the MLS Defender of the Year. Queens Park Rangers while currently an EPL team are sitting at the foot of the table on 6 points, without a win and currently 7 points clear of safety. They recently hired Harry Redknapp to replace Mark Hughes. Birmingham City, the Championship level side is also struggling, but are better off than QPR. Birmingham is 19th of 24 teams in the English second division, on 24 points, sitting 9 points clear of the relegation zone. The Blues are also the home to US international Jonathan Spector. Both English teams would be quite hard for Besler to get signed by. The reason for that is the work permit process in England. Since Besler has no caps for the US team and has only been in one camp, Besler doesn't qualify for a work permit immediately and would instead need to go through the appeals process, similar to what Geoff Cameron went through to earn his work permit to go to Stoke. Going to Belgium would probably be easier to get into for Besler as getting a work permit there is not as hard as in England.
Of course the other option is that Besler re-signs with Sporting. And that's the word tonight from Greg Seltzer on his No Short Corners blog. Stating that despite interest in England and Belgium he's close to returning. This was one thing that absolutely had to get done for KC this offseason and the sooner the better. With Roger Espinoza already set to leave, the loss of Besler as well would have been a crippling blow for KC heading into the 2013 season. Fans have already been a little restless today with the Michael Harrington trade and Korede Aiyegbusi being released meant 6 players had left KC already this season, all defensively, and that's not counting Espinoza. But getting Besler re-signed would at least be a good positive step in the right direction for some of these fans (who I think are over reacting quite a bit) who are worried.
Friday, November 25, 2011
English Press Strike Again
Photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson
Teal Bunbury didn't even make it to England to begin his training stint before transfer rumors started this year. Last year while training with Stoke City, the English press jumped on it and said that Bunbury was trialing with the EPL side and that the Potters were interested in buying the KC forward.
This year with his training stint at Bolton the English press have already turned it into rumors of buying. Reports are that Owen Coyle is interested in "swooping for the US international". We learned last year how the English press exaggerates these types of stories, and we're seeing it again with Bolton.
Speaking of Bunbury and his training with Bolton (and possibly Newcastle), word now is that he might not go. According to Greg Seltzer, there might be a US Olympic team camp in December which may keep Bunbury from going to England. Bunbury missed the last Olympic camp in Germany because of his ankle injury, but is expected to play a role in qualifying.
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