TFC 2018-2019 player off season moves/speculation/rumours

[Smokecell]

The release clause isn’t the only issue here. You act like we have a legal option to force this through which we likely don’t have.

Release clauses are generally straight forward and I think anyone would struggle to find an example where the source transfer window being closed has held any weight whatsoever.

As for this supposed gentlemen agreement or whatever we want to call it I'm not reading too deep into it, there's just too much misinformation. Even with genkfan trying to clarify, if you read closely even he provided a flimsy explanation saying that there was a deal done by mail and then shortly after says that before this supposed agreement was "finalized (signed)" Toronto swooped into the picture so riddle me this batman. Without a finite understanding of what the actual case is I don't put any weight into the stories flying around. This will all come out in the wash one way or another so no sense speculating here among the armchair lawyers that have suddenly popped out of the woodwork.

Lastly I will say that as a TFC supporter I want this to get done now. I'm not sure why some are all of a sudden pretending to be FIFA peacekeeping police hoping for some magical solution that makes all parties happy. This may sound insensitive but I would be lying if I said I cared about any other team that isn't TFC. I don't care to make Genk happy, just being honest. Further, even if TFC and Genk work out some deal to have him move at a later time - how does this make Pozuelo happy? If you received a new job offer at double your wages and then had your boss say that you can't leave until you finish your current project at your same wage - how happy would that make you? Let's give up this fantasy that all 3 sides can be happy together in this.

[OgtheDim]

No to Nagbe - has no interest in defence. Which is maybe why De Boer doesn't rate him.

[Ultra & Proud]

I hope whoever's idea it was to seriously pursue Pozuelo got their head bitten off in an MLSE boardroom

Poz looks like he could be one of the best players in MLS. This is exactly who we should be persuing.

[MightyDM]

Nagbe is unsettled in Atlanta and has been pulled from training this week. Rumour is it is a contract issue. He makes $620K.

We have a lot of TAM if we want to go after a player like this. Not sure what I think, he never looked the same in Atlanta.

Supposedly he wants to go to Columbus...

I always rated him. Plus he has the exact skills we need.

[MightyDM]

No to Nagbe - has no interest in defence. Which is maybe why De Boer doesn't rate him.

A good replacement for Raheem though. And we need one.

[MightyDM]

Hey boys and girls, new to the forum. look forward to sharing opinions with you guys. Believe it or not this forum has been far more informative than anything out there. anyways just wanted to break my post count cherry. Cheers!

Welcome aboard! The forum is always entertaining, sometimes informative. And it has it own unique history. Do you own rollerblades?

[Areathrasher]

A good replacement for Raheem though. And we need one.

Nagbe is nothing like Raheem. They dont even play the same position.

[Auzzy]

Welcome aboard! The forum is always entertaining, sometimes informative. And it has it own unique history. Do you own rollerblades?

What we really need, is somebody in NY with rollerblades today!

[ensco]

No to Nagbe - has no interest in defence. Which is maybe why De Boer doesn't rate him.

People were comparing him to Kanté in Portland

[Luanda]

No activity on this board for a whole hour during this critical juncture?
Is everyone on rollerblades?!

[portu]

Poz looks like he could be one of the best players in MLS. This is exactly who we should be persuing.

Sorry, it's not the player in particular but the decision to pursue him without doing homework on his contractual situation

[Ultra & Proud]

Sorry, it's not the player in particular but the decision to pursue him without doing homework on his contractual situation

They did that. 8M Euro release. How are they supposed to know Genk will hold him until May because of an email.

[ensco]

Sorry, it's not the player in particular but the decision to pursue him without doing homework on his contractual situation

Yeah that's my view.

Pozo made public statements in January but I am guessing the agent didn’t mention that to MLS/TFC, they didn’t do any independent homework, and then of course the team/league were party to a plan to just tell Genk the score without understanding the strength (ie weakness) of their position.

No biggie for us, if the player works out, but bad in suitland.

It's made Manning look like a foolish bully who didn’t have his facts straight to his bosses, how long do you think it took the Genk Chairman to call Tanenbaum etc and just blast us?

It also put the league in a difficult situation. Bad for MLS' reputation, we have to work with leagues like these.

[Ultra & Proud]

That's not really true. All ambitious teams do far, far worse. Just in the past couple windows Liverpool, Barca, United, etc have made advancements on players in worse ways than us, both in and outside the windows. This is the next evolution of MLS. Start acting like big clubs especially when your owners have as much or more money and clout than the Euro teams they're looking for players off of do.

[Ultra & Proud]

And suits don't care about any of this. They only care about money and PR as it pertains to making more money.

[JoesphNdo]

I don't get the over thinking on this. From where I'm sitting we saw a player we like, saw a contract situation we could leverage and negotiated strong as a result. "The suits" would be angry if we did anything else

Now we're in a great position. He's ours for 8m in the summer if we want, or Genk can try negotiate us to see if they can get a little more to have him sooner. So we'll either get him in a bit or give them a little extra to get him sooner, which is basically exactly how we got Seba.

This is all incredibly standard. It comes down now to how good a deal we can negotiate to get him sooner and if that deal is worth it for us to have him early.

[ensco]

I don't get the over thinking on this. From where I'm sitting we saw a player we like, saw a contract situation we could leverage and negotiated strong as a result. "The suits" would be angry if we did anything else

Now we're in a great position. He's ours for 8m in the summer if we want, or Genk can try negotiate us to see if they can get a little more to have him sooner. So we'll either get him in a bit or give them a little extra to get him sooner, which is basically exactly how we got Seba.

This is all incredibly standard. It comes down now to how good a deal we can negotiate to get him sooner and if that deal is worth it for us to have him early.

No. We are stuck, if there was another option to have a comparable player for CCL and the start of the season ... that is gone, that is the cost of this.

We have to take the player whenever he can be made available, and we cannot move on to plan B, if there ever was one, because of the mess that was made.

Good thing the player looks good.

[JoesphNdo]

No. We are stuck, if there was another option to have a comparable player for CCL and the start of the season ... that is gone, that is the cost of this.

We have to take the player whenever he can be made available, and we cannot move on to plan B, if there ever was one, because of the mess that was made.

Good thing the player looks good.

We can walk whenever we want. If Messi wants to sign for us tomorrow we simply stop returning calls to Genk and we move on. That's how transfers work, what has us stuck to this one beyond us wanting him? What exactly is the mess? Transfers get negotiated every day Windows are open and sometimes they're really protracted, no agreement is made and both parties just move on

[ensco]

The mess is that we showed up like we were entitled to just push a button, wire some dough, and get the player...except we couldn’t. We did that in the middle of a title race and Europa League (both worth many millions to the club). That is a major violation of the code by which teams operate.

This is still sport. There are rules.

They can walk, sure, but only for a very good reason (I agree Messi would be one!)

Anyway I am repeating myself. if you don’t buy it, so be it.

[JoesphNdo]

The mess is that we showed up like we were entitled to just push a button, wire some dough, and get the player...except we couldn’t. We did that in the middle of a title race and Europa League (both worth many millions to the club). That is a major violation of the code by which teams operate.

This is still sport. There are rules.

They can walk, sure, but only for a very good reason (I agree Messi would be one!)

Anyway I am repeating myself. if you don’t buy it, so be it.

I don't see any evidence of anything close to that. We approached a player with a very favourable contract and tried to leverage it to get what we wanted, that's what clubs do, it would be financially irresponsible to not do it. This isn't anything new. Barcelona publicly courted cesc Fabregas for around 3 seasons, Hell la Liga presidents get elected on the promise of signing players they have no right to make. This is nothing, and Genk would do the same to us if they wanted one of our players. There is no major violation in offering someone their written Buy out clause and then trying to negotiate after if it turns out it wasn't valid, compared to how most transfers go its actually very above board. There is literally not a club in world football that wouldn't try to use a release clause on a player they're trying to buy that, as written, legally allows you to approach him. Not one.

Now we have a guy on lock for summer, which his contract allows us to do, who we can negotiate to get before that. Don't like the terms? We move on and buy someone else. There is no mess here, no violations minor never mind major, there is simply a transfer negotiation around dates

[Ultra & Proud]

The mess is that we showed up like we were entitled to just push a button, wire some dough, and get the player...except we couldn’t. We did that in the middle of a title race and Europa League (both worth many millions to the club). That is a major violation of the code by which teams operate.

This is still sport. There are rules

The rules are if a player has a buyout, you do exactly what you said and you activate that clause during your window, which we did. The issue is his email promising he would stay. Even if we came in January that would still be the case unless we got there before the email. Regardless, this is how bigger transfers work. We worked 100% within the rules. We didn't get warned or reprimanded like Liverpool & Barca have recently and it's not like they're pariahs of Europe with ownership coming down on their FO's for approaching players.

[OgtheDim]

Not like they are going to announce things tonight I suppose. FWIW, Bruges & Genk are at 8:30 Eastern tomorrow. Might grab a coffee and find a stream.

[Oldtimer]

I don't see any evidence of anything close to that. We approached a player with a very favourable contract and tried to leverage it to get what we wanted, that's what clubs do, it would be financially irresponsible to not do it. This isn't anything new. Barcelona publicly courted cesc Fabregas for around 3 seasons, Hell la Liga presidents get elected on the promise of signing players they have no right to make. This is nothing, and Genk would do the same to us if they wanted one of our players. There is no major violation in offering someone their written Buy out clause and then trying to negotiate after if it turns out it wasn't valid, compared to how most transfers go its actually very above board. There is literally not a club in world football that wouldn't try to use a release clause on a player they're trying to buy that, as written, legally allows you to approach him. Not one.

Now we have a guy on lock for summer, which his contract allows us to do, who we can negotiate to get before that. Don't like the terms? We move on and buy someone else. There is no mess here, no violations minor never mind major, there is simply a transfer negotiation around dates

I kind of see it your way. This is exactly how world football operates. While the suits may be used to North American sports, I'm sure they have full confidence in Manning and will take his explanation.

[Webdogg]

Yeah that's my view.

Pozo made public statements in January but I am guessing the agent didn’t mention that to MLS/TFC, they didn’t do any independent homework, and then of course the team/league were party to a plan to just tell Genk the score without understanding the strength (ie weakness) of their position.

No biggie for us, if the player works out, but bad in suitland.

It's made Manning look like a foolish bully who didn’t have his facts straight to his bosses, how long do you think it took the Genk Chairman to call Tanenbaum etc and just blast us?

It also put the league in a difficult situation. Bad for MLS' reputation, we have to work with leagues like these.

So Genk chairmen Peter Croonen calls to blast Tanenbaum? You mean Tanenbaum, worth $1.5b that’s chairman of MLSE that’s worth about $4b (Leafs $1.5b, Raps $1.4b, TFC,Argos,real estate around another $1b) you mean that Tanenbaum? Well if he did I’m pretty sure the call would go something like this

Croonen - I’m calling to blast you for trying to take our best player when we’re trying to win our league. I know you followed the rules, but I think you’re being a big meanie.

Tanenbaum - Who are you again? Doesn’t matter, please hold

Tanenbaum calls his assistant - How much is 90m£ in Cdn?

Assistant - It’s about $150 million.

Tanenbaum - Great. Please buy KRC Genk and then close the business. Use the loonies and toonies they found in my couch when cleaning last week. Oh btw I found a new cell phone tower operator for the new Bell-Rogers join venture in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Thanks.

Tanenbaum - Thanks for holding, what was your name again?

Croonen - it’s Peter Croonen, chairmen of Genk

Tanenbaum- Peter do you have a Canada Goose jacket?

[OgtheDim]

FWIW, Pozuelo on the bench again

[El matador]

Welcome aboard! The forum is always entertaining, sometimes informative. And it has it own unique history. Do you own rollerblades?

Thank you....and no i don`t .....should i go buy some?....am i in for a ride? lol

[El matador]

The mess is that we showed up like we were entitled to just push a button, wire some dough, and get the player...except we couldn’t. We did that in the middle of a title race and Europa League (both worth many millions to the club). That is a major violation of the code by which teams operate.

This is still sport. There are rules.

They can walk, sure, but only for a very good reason (I agree Messi would be one!)

Anyway I am repeating myself. if you don’t buy it, so be it.

So did you blast Al Hilal or whatever they are called, when they came to Giovinco offered him a deal full well knowing that he was still under contract with us and we are about to start our CCL run? And what code are you talking about? The code that PSG had when they got Neymar? like that kind of code? I`m confused. i thought the code is we put a release buy out clause...you match it...it`s yours. Money is the code.

[shwade]

So did you blast Al Hilal or whatever they are called, when they came to Giovinco offered him a deal full well knowing that he was still under contract with us and we are about to start our CCL run? And what code are you talking about? The code that PSG had when they got Neymar? like that kind of code? I`m confused. i thought the code is we put a release buy out clause...you match it...it`s yours. Money is the code.

Can't forgot Becks to Galaxy when he was still with Real Madrid and then he got benched for a bit by a very angry Capello.

[ensco]

So Genk chairmen Peter Croonen calls to blast Tanenbaum? You mean Tanenbaum, worth $1.5b that’s chairman of MLSE that’s worth about $4b (Leafs $1.5b, Raps $1.4b, TFC,Argos,real estate around another $1b) you mean that Tanenbaum? Well if he did I’m pretty sure the call would go something like this

Croonen - I’m calling to blast you for trying to take our best player when we’re trying to win our league. I know you followed the rules, but I think you’re being a big meanie.

Tanenbaum - Who are you again? Doesn’t matter, please hold

Tanenbaum calls his assistant - How much is 90m£ in Cdn?

Assistant - It’s about $150 million.

Tanenbaum - Great. Please buy KRC Genk and then close the business. Use the loonies and toonies they found in my couch when cleaning last week. Oh btw I found a new cell phone tower operator for the new Bell-Rogers join venture in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Thanks.

Tanenbaum - Thanks for holding, what was your name again?

Croonen - it’s Peter Croonen, chairmen of Genk

Tanenbaum- Peter do you have a Canada Goose jacket?

OK this is pretty funny

[PizzaEatingYeti]

FWIW, Pozuelo on the bench again

Yeah... too bad... f...ck this shit!
Because I wagered on Genk pk (0 handicap) at -103, in the hope that Poz will play a full role in this one.
So now if Genk will lose because Poz not playing the full game, Genk and TFC will owe me a total of $40... lol... because he's not playing because of this royal screw-up contract situation.

And while I'm typing this, they get scored on... and since the beginning of the game they were almost totally dominated. Genk I mean....