we have a ton of space already.
remember we got rid of 2 players on big wages (hedges, laryea), and traded MAK midseason to clear space. hedges (plus trade)+laryea+MAK trade savings already totals 2.7 Mill which is a decent chunk in MLS.
also, strong rumours bradley will retire.
i suspect the following will be leaving this offseason:
kosi
sapong
bradley
vazquez
ranjitsingh
akinola
diomande
1 or both of insigne/ bernardeschi (i know there's the money issue but i suspect they find a way to move one if not both)
ibarra (loan ending)
the only players i would definitely keep are:
mbongue (although ideally find a loan move)
franklin
kerr
servania
coello
blessing
johnson (although suspect may be traded to create space for rebuild)
mailula
prince
a few others of course could look a lot better in a better constructed squad, but as of now those would be the only guys i'd want to keep out of current bunch of losers.
That list is only for free agency eligible players (24+ and with 5 years MLS experience). Any players who don't meet that requirement can still have their contracts expire/option decline, they just have to go through re-entry process. So the departing list will be longer than that.
Probably not by much.
Aime Mabika is the one we can definitely shed, as his deal expires in December.
None of the younger players' contracts expire until after 2024, other than Themi Antonoglou, who MAY expire in December (only one source) and Alonso Coello, whose deal expires in December.
Both are probably young and cheap enough that not much point is seen in getting rid of them, as they still have upside growth potential.
Guitierrez might be on a short deal, so he's possible.
Blessing was on a deal through 2024 with New England and I expect that's the same here.
Everyone else is locked in through next year (and nearly all on pretty low money, anyway, other than Ayo.) I couldn't get dates on Jahkheele or Romero but believe the former has already extended his 2019 deal and the latter likely got at least two years.
Kosi Thompson, 20., through 2024
Luke Singh, 23, through 2025
Tomas Romero, 22, length unknown, signed 2021
Peruzza, through 2024
Mbongue, through 2025
Jakheele Marshall Rutty, 19, length unknown, signed 2020
DeAndre Kerr, 20, through 2024
Kobe Franklin, 19, signs through 2024
Alonso Coello, 23, through 2023, options next year
Themi Antonoglou, 22, possibly expires 2023 (one story)
Ayo Akinola, 23, through 2024
Last edited by jloome; 10-11-2023 at 08:59 AM.
This list would be fine to still have around minus Ayo. Some could also easily be loaned out too.
Just hoping we put options on some of our more expensive dead weight.
And I still can't believe we let our 2023 buyout expire with the amount of garbage circling the bowl on this roster.
I suppose the upside to this is that they're all extremely young still, with both growth potential and some trade value.
We're actually not that bad off.
I have to believe they've been told by MB that he's retiring. Diomande will be the buyout if that's the case. Sapong's deal is expiring, as is Ranjitsingh's and Vazquez.
Right now we're looking at saving
Vazquez - 301,000
Sapong - 616,000
Ranjitsingh- 100,000
Hedges - 908,859
MAK - 90,000 (difference between his salary and Blessing)
Guitierrez - 312,000 (I fucking kid you not)
Diomande (buyout) - 585,000
Bradley - 615,000
So if those all went ahead we'd be looking at roughly $3.5M in salary space. All of those but Hedges would've been under the cap, and Ayo would be over.
Ayo should be packaged with allocation money and sent to another team. Easiest way to undo that one.
Re: Guitierrez… I thought the caps were covering part of his salary?
Something happened to FB wages in 2018 because they used to be the worst in the league.
I'd keep Johnson as I believe a likely nother year of cruddy defence might kill the confidence of a younger keeper.
He's over 25 and not listed as having an option. That suggests the option year isn't until 2025. Unless he signed a new, one-year deal, I suspect we're stuck with him for a year.
Agreed on Sean Johnson. Still looks like an occasional game-saver to me, only had one bad gaffe all season. Still, good mentor for Gavran, too, who looks like the real deal.
When you consider how young the team we put out this year is -- Franklin is 19, Kerr is 20, Rutty is 19, Pearlman is 17 -- they still have a lot of room for growth and improvement.
According to this his contract had two option years for 2022 & 2023 so his contract is probably done unless we resigned him at some point instead of picking up his WC deal.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/whit...ian-gutierrez/
Oh, yeah, I believe we did. But that expires Dec. 23, I believe. I don't think he'll be back unless it's at massively reduced terms. He just hasn't proven himself at the MLS level.
I did talk to some Vancouver fans who said he's a puzzler, because he has the odd game where he looks up for it.
Draft is regaining relevance. A lot of youth team players are going for a couple of years (like Kerr and Jaycen Russel Rowe from us) and then getting drafted after playing college. McGuire, who was a senior when drafted in 2022, has 11 goals at Orlando. Henry Kessler has become a starter at New England after being drafted in 2020.
We might get something decent out of the NCAA this offseason. Anyone following US collegiate soccer?
Haven’t followed but normally start with this guys list. It’s not as accurate as an NBA draft board but it gives you an idea who is out there.
https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/coll...al-top-100/men
As a side note, has the NCAA changed their ridiculous rules yet? They should really have aligned to FIFA a long time ago.
While you might not get many players that will have an impact in the MLS from the college draft there are still instances where you still might uncover a talent that can play and produce in this league . Orlando’s Duncan McGuire who is playing in his first year as a pro for Orlando straight out of college after spending 3 years playing NCAA soccer and at the ripe old age off 22 has 11 goals for Orlando this season, more than both our two Italian DP’s scoring combined.
Football Italia reporting Juventus is kicking Bernardeschi's tires due to off-field issues with Nicolo Fagioli.
That'll last until they see the wage bill, I imagine.