MLS blocks Red Bulls bid for Kandji - Soccer by Yves

[TicTacTabarnack]

The Red Bulls' quest to sign Macoumba Kandji this season has ended, with Major League Soccer pulling the plug on the potential $200,000 transfer bid for the 23-year-old Senegalese striker.

According to sources with knowledge of the transfer discussions, the New York Red Bulls have ceased their quest to sign the Atlanta Silverbacks striker after Major League Soccer officials balked at allowing an MLS team pay a $200,000 transfer fee for a USL player.

Atlanta's insistence on a $200,000 transfer fee, an extremely high figure for a USL player but one Atlanta felt was fair value for such a young and talented forward, was the sticking point that MLS couldn't get beyond. This despite the fact that the Red Bulls were willing to pay Atlanta's asking price.

Source

Great news for us ... But I really don't like how MLS Head Office has their hand in everything. Too many people at the table and added red tape when it comes to player transactions!

McBride Deal had 4 parties involved - McBride, Chicago, TFC & MLS. Too many hands in the pot. Another example was that young striker (can't remember his name) that chose to avoid joining TFC because MLS would have owned his contract (and not the club)!

Too bureaucratic for my liking ...

[Nodoubtguy]

Yeah, how can you build the team you want if the league has their hand in everything??

[S_D]

Great news for us ... But I really don't like how MLS Head Office has their hand in everything. Too many people at the table and added red tape when it comes to player transactions!

McBride Deal had 4 parties involved - McBride, Chicago, TFC & MLS. Too many hands in the pot. Another example was that young striker (can't remember his name) that chose to avoid joining TFC because MLS would have owned his contract (and not the club)!

Too bureaucratic for my liking ...

I find it strange that MLS would block the transfer fee when the NYRB had transfer money from the Adu sale. I thought you could spend it on transfers/players how you saw fit.

As for McBride, the USSF got involved too so that makes 5. Ridiculous. The MLS needs to get it's shit together if they want to legitimize this league.

[Strikers]

The league should realize that most of the time teams always over pay for player.

Even if they are playing in the tier below.

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

The league’s got to normalize its ownership and transfer structure someday. Parity’s great and all, and works nicely in the NFL, but the league’s never going to grow unless it realizes big leagues (EPL, La Liga, Serie A) have big and little teams.

[Beach_Red]

As for McBride, the USSF got involved too so that makes 5. Ridiculous. The MLS needs to get it's shit together if they want to legitimize this league.

True enough, but it's a tricky thing to time it perfectly. MLS is following a legacy of failed soccer in North America. We've seen what happens if they try and rush into big money without building a solid base and we're already starting to feel in Toronto what happens when they don't move fast enough.

The new CBA, new expansion teams, etc., and it'll move up another notch.

[TFC07]

I wonder if TFC were trying to get Kandji as well.

[Draracle]

wtf? $200k stops a team from getting what it wants? How mickey mouse is this league?

[Broadview]

Another example was that young striker (can't remember his name) that chose to avoid joining TFC because MLS would have owned his contract (and not the club)!

Kevin Gall if I remember right. He was all set to sign until the whole "league owns your contract" came up.

Lots of silliness in MLS rules, that's for sure.

[Cobblers]

there needs to be at least a middle ground in a situation like this - ie. allow clubs to pay transfer fees but cap the transfer fee in the interim until the league is more stable. $200K seems a reasonable fee to pay. Also, a bit hypocritical when the league allows teams to receive transfer fees such as the one TFC got for Edu...

[CanuckPete]

Man... Sometimes they make it very hard to take this league seriously.

[jloome]

It's likely due to the ongoing feud between the two leagues, which few talk about but which is very apparently fully on, if you talk to anyone who actually works with either league about the other. $200,000 is a serious gain for a USL team, a league that seems in almost every respect except market size to be gaining on MLS.

So I'm not that surprised, although it's still asinine.

[Beach_Red]

Strangely, the other four major team sports leagues in North America are all the product of mergers between rival leagues. Not that it means anything.

[Shaughno]

I find it strange that MLS would block the transfer fee when the NYRB had transfer money from the Adu sale. I thought you could spend it on transfers/players how you saw fit.

As for McBride, the USSF got involved too so that makes 5. Ridiculous. The MLS needs to get it's shit together if they want to legitimize this league.

Adu sale? When did Adu play for NYRB????

[Billy the kid]

I don't understand why the transfer fee has to count against your allocation dollars. A team should be able to pay that seperate provided the players salary still counts against the cap.

[Wooster_TFC]

I find it strange that MLS would block the transfer fee when the NYRB had transfer money from the Adu sale. I thought you could spend it on transfers/players how you saw fit.

As for McBride, the USSF got involved too so that makes 5. Ridiculous. The MLS needs to get it's shit together if they want to legitimize this league.

Well, Shaughno beat me to it, but I'm going to comment anyways.

I think you mean Altidore.

[profit89]

The league’s got to normalize its ownership and transfer structure someday. Parity’s great and all, and works nicely in the NFL, but the league’s never going to grow unless it realizes big leagues (EPL, La Liga, Serie A) have big and little teams.

Agree. This single entity thing has to be broken up !!!

And if you're gonna have a salary cap, then have it and step away, let teams do whatever they want/can in getting players .

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

They could still have a cap in a buying and selling, big team little team set-up - maybe something like having a "salary range" with a maximum and minium teams would be allowed to spend. Say something like between 2 and 6 million. The ambitious teams would spend money and buy players, the less ambitious would stay at the low end of the salary range and sell players.

The real loser in all this Macoumba Kandji. It could have been a nice move for him in terms of advancing in his playing career.

[jloome]

They could still have a cap in a buying and selling, big team little team set-up - maybe something like having a "salary range" with a maximum and minium teams would be allowed to spend. Say something like between 2 and 6 million. The ambitious teams would spend money and buy players, the less ambitious would stay at the low end of the salary range and sell players.

The real loser in all this Macoumba Kandji. It could have been a nice move for him in terms of advancing in his playing career.

Uh, actually I'd suggest he's the big winner in all this. Euro scouts aren't stupid; if he's good enough to line up for New York to replace Altidore, he's not going to be in the USL long, what with this entire adventure being splashed all over the newspapers.

And he's going to make a fuck of a lot more than Red Shite New York Would've paid. That $200,000 will seem like a bargain pretty soon.

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

Maybe. My thinking is that Euro. scouts might be a little on the fence about the guy, waiting to see how he plays in the MLS. With all the speculation surrounding him, I was looking forward to seeing him playing.

[VPjr]

Kandji is a big talent. This is a big error by MLS. Other factors are at play here, in my opinion.

Kandji, if he can continue his excellent play, will be in bigger league soon enough.

[S_D]

Adu sale? When did Adu play for NYRB????

ha good catch..I meant Altidore...not sure why I was thinking Adu.

you know how it is...fingers thinking faster than the brain lol

[jloome]

Now the league is denying it, Ives is reporting.

I think this one's in the wording. No reason to think Ives' sources are wrong when they're typically right, so the league is likely weaseling their way around the issue. My money is on the source being in the front office.

[Shakes McQueen]

According to Ives:

In the wake of my report on the Red Bull's quest to sign Mac Kandji and the league's role in preventing the signing from happening, both MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis and Red Bulls sporting director Jeff Agoos have come out and denied that the league has prevented the Red Bulls from making any acquisitions.
"MILS works closely with the Red Bulls on player negotiations and, contrary to reports, has not blocked any move for any player involving the Red Bulls," Gazidis told SBI in an e-mail response.
Shortly after Gazidis' denial came a denial from Agoos, who reached out to SBI to offer up his own denial.
"The league has worked closely with us and hasn't blocked us from any transfer," Agoos said in a phone interview.
Neither Gazidis or Agoos would discuss Kandji specificially, citing Kandji's status as a player under contract with the Atlanta Silverbacks of the USL.

Sounds to me like MLS was pissed that the story leaked, and told Agoos there would be repercussions if they didn't present a united front/story.

That, or Ives' source was wrong. But I don't think I've ever seen him report something that turned out to be incorrect.

- Scott

[Billy the kid]

"I have been a journalist for more than 10 years. That is a decade of covering the sport of soccer at its highest level, and at its most basic level, from Old Trafford to Farcher's Grove, from the World Cup final the the Passaic County final. I have honed my skills as a journalist throughout that decade of experience and have not suddenly forgotten how to be a journalist because I no longer write for a newspaper or because my stories appear on a website. I also have not, nor will I ever, lower the journalistic standards of Soccer By Ives for the purpose of driving traffic.
Feel free to copy and paste that wherever it needs to go."
Posted by: Ives | August 28, 2008 at 10:05 PM

Gotta respect a guy who sticks to his guns.

[TicTacTabarnack]

"I have been a journalist for more than 10 years. That is a decade of covering the sport of soccer at its highest level, and at its most basic level, from Old Trafford to Farcher's Grove, from the World Cup final the the Passaic County final. I have honed my skills as a journalist throughout that decade of experience and have not suddenly forgotten how to be a journalist because I no longer write for a newspaper or because my stories appear on a website. I also have not, nor will I ever, lower the journalistic standards of Soccer By Ives for the purpose of driving traffic.
Feel free to copy and paste that wherever it needs to go."
Posted by: Ives | August 28, 2008 at 10:05 PM

Gotta respect a guy who sticks to his guns.

I think MLS tried to lower his credibility and he's hitting back.