Vieira hints at future MLS switch

[werewolf]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=671696&sec=europe&cc=5739



Inter midfielder Patrick Vieira has revealed this will be his last year playing football in Europe, but he could end his career with a spell in the USA in Major League Soccer.



Vieira's contract at the San Siro expires in 2010 and he has not been guaranteed a renewal by the club, seeing the midfielder linked with a return to Arsenal and even a switch to the Gunners' bitter rivals Tottenham.
The Senegal-born star will be 34 by the time his contract with the Italian champions expires, and he is already making plans for the future.
"I still have a year left on my contract and I think it will be my last in Europe at the highest level," Vieira told Orange Sport. "I would like to try an experience in the United States, [former French international] Youri Djorkaeff has convinced me."
The Frenchman also spoke of his ambition to return to the national team after being dropped by Raymond Domenech for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Romania and Serbia.
"I want to return to the national team, but I don't want to rush it. I am fine physically and mentally as I am playing more often with Inter," he said.

[Shakes McQueen]

YES PLEASE

- Scott

[Mikey]

MLS really needs to bring in a age cap if it's going to get out from under the "retirement league" crap.

[mighty_torontofc_2008]

MLS really needs to bring in a age cap if it's going to get out from under the "retirement league" crap.


agreed having a limit of 30 years of age of players coming in would help in getting rid of the retirement league crap.But doubt MLS would go for this.

[Sonny Cheeba]

who cares if MLS is a retirement league? we're not going to be anything different for years, not while we have the draft, a salary cap and teams not owning their players.

We're not going to see players of Viera's caliber without them planning on retiring.

when we do see great players here, they're young and off to Europe anyhow.


same with Henry. if he wants to come here when he's 40 he'll still be better than half the players in MLS.

[TorontoBlades]

better to be a retirement league then the 10th best option for a decent player in his prime

[jloome]

His agent told the San Jose Earthquakes GM last year that he'd be interested in MLS for $6-7M per season.

It's unlikely any team in MLS is going to pay Viera that at 34,

[Mikey]

With Vancouver and (possibly) Montral coming into MLS, theres a good chance to get Canadian footie developing at a higher standard and with greater exposure than previously possible.

Shelling out big bucks for semi-retirees while young talent is left shining the pine and struggling to get by on shitty wages, is a crap idea.

EDIT* Instead of throwing big money at players looking for a golden parachute, how about
a decent guaranteed minimum wage for all MLS players outside the cap? Would probably go a lot further to stemming the flood of MLS players to second and third rate overseas leagues just to get enough money to start a life with.

[Detroit_TFC]

Yes, if MLS gets a rep as a retirement league, that's bad in the long term. But right now the league has a severe shortage of football brain power, not athleticism. However for that to work the incoming players have to accept the reality of what MLS is and what they will be working with, and not some cock and bull story spun by the PR operators.

[shwade]

yezzir but not for $6 mil. Also Mo's on crack remember, he's on about getting a Canadian DP.

[flatpicker]

If a guy is a good footballer, but is no longer capable of playing at the highest level,
then he has a couple of options...

- retire
- or play for less money in a lower league

Personally, I don't really care if older players come to MLS.
Sure, I would rather we have good young players capable of doing the same job.
But MLS simply is not capable of holding on to young talent... yet.

A player should be able to play for as long as he wants, and as long as someone is there who thinks his skills are useful to a club.

There are a lot of lesser leagues around the world that good players could finish out their careers in.
So, if they decide to choose MLS, then fine.
If they are capable of doing a good job (by MLS standards) then why not play them?

If it's a situation where a MLS team signs a player simply because of his name, even though he is not good enough any more... then that's no good.

As long as MLS teams hire the best players they can get, I don't care how old they are or what their name is.

[Yohan]

6-7mil per year?

Vieira is on crack

max 1.5 per year. around what Ljungberg makes

[twistedchinaman]

^ Agreed. A good DP style pay but expecting Becks type numbers is ludicrous.

How was your flight back, Yohan? Was it good?