SoccerWise - MLS Edition: Cucho Leaving & New Cash Deals For Jovelic, McGlynn & Ku-DiPietro

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

The start of the 2025 MLS season is just around the corner but that CLEARLY does not mean the roster moves are going to slow down. He maybe not be Luka Doncic but Cucho Hernandez ending his time in MLS has sent shockwaves around the league. Tom & Gass dig into what is going on in Columbus & what is Cucho's legacy in his short time. Then they dig into the flurry of new cash trades in MLS with millions of $$ being spent on Dejan Jovelic, Jack McGlynn & Ted Ku-DiPietro + of course the "Ice Cream Shop" is open!8:25 Cucho Leaving Columbus25:22: SKC Making Big Moves In the Attack34:15 Breaking Down Jack McGlynn CADE46:20 Colorado Buys Ted Ku-DiPietro57:23 Lucho & Evander Updates59:55 Ice Cream Shop on Orlando signings, Agyemang Offers & Gavin Wolff Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

what's up everybody and welcome back to Sockwise David Goss and Tommy Scoops with you for another show and I'm not gonna lie one that maybe I'm not totally prepared for. Tom, it felt like we started, we are starting to dive into our season preview content. We are putting together what we have now realized is an ambitious project to try and bring you previews on all 30 teams as individual, basically their own shows.

You may have seen on social media, if you're a fan, you know, in one of the fan bases, we are starting to connect with some local podcasts to have them on to help us do that and sort of work together. And I started to look towards the 2025 season and say, like, here are rosters, here are teams, this is set up. And then the ground shifted below me tom once again scoops left and right major league soccer right now has lost its mind yeah that that like like doing the season preview stuff it's like oh my god like real games are starting in two weeks i believe yeah the tuesday ahead of the first weekend of mos should be the first CCC games.

And it's like, oh, yeah, we're talking about this whole theory about preseason stuff. And then it's like, oh, my God, there's real games to be watching soon. How cool is that? It is cool. And I just, I know for me, I was up on Saturday night, I think it was. And I open up my phone and just social media explodes as I read Tom Bogert confirming Sasha Kleschen's reports that Tim Parker will be returning to the New York Red Bulls and you could just feel the sports media landscape change all of a sudden right Tom that's another another white dude with a mustache uh he's he's just like a better version of me just in terms of obviously his athletic career but I think he

you know the looks and everything else. And I was like, oh, man, Sasha, you can't be doing this. This is all I got here. Don't be doing this to me. Yeah. And well, he. I jokingly texted him like the like, watch out. You.

Hey, in this household, you watch him out. It has been a wild, wild weekend, though. Cucho, we will talk about leaving the Columbus crew as I think we have to put in context where he stands as a player in Columbus's history and a player in Major League Soccer history. We have opened up a bunch of our cash for trades finally with Dayan Jovalich alongside two SKC signings from Europe. We've got Jack McGlynn on the move. We've got Teddy Cudipietro on the move as well, trying to ruin our Colorado Rapids pre-recorded preseason or preview. As usual, we've got Orlando making potentially DP signings as well.

It is endless. I am nowhere near done as we go through this all there is a ton to talk about but let's start right here we're getting all of these reports a jack mcglynn on the move a day on your village on the moon a teddy cootie pietro on the move and inside all those reports and a lot of them are from utah so they are, of course, perfect and flawless. The words trades are used. The word cash is used. The word transfers are used.

Signings. It's chaos. I need to simplify. And therefore, I am making a bid now that trades for cash should have a nickname in Major League Soccer. They should be known as something. We've got U22s. We've got DPs. We've got homegrowns. I think they should be known as something we've got you 22s we've got dps we've got homegrowns i think they need to be named something i've got two ideas one is worse than the other both are bad do you have anything that you'd like to come with and if you are watching

live by the way and you're in the chat please put something in there reminder we you can super chat now as well if you want to give some a little bit of money and get involved there. If you're listening via podcast, go into our Discord. If you subscribe, you can put it there. Or I have a new thing. If you leave us a five-star review with something that you say in there, I will go in and check that as well. Anywhere you get your podcast, you can leave that review. Do you have any good ideas? I'm laying out for you that I believe in you. I don't think that their ideas are going to be bad. You've only told me one,

so I don't think that they're going to be bad because I believe in you. So, shout out to Morgan Tenza, our favorite. She put in Bogert Bucks, which is like not a bad thing. This is a Bogert Bucks trade, but these are not a thing. We have one here that says wham bam no more gam uh b ray calls it doesn't really roll off the tongue b ray calls it a

trade which is not the worst person to name this after this rule felt like it was like 80 created for someone like porig smith who is of course the chief soccer officer um out in colorado here are my two and they both combine the words cash and trade so the first one is a cade you take the ca you do the d it is a good reference one to who it turned out being the first few of these because there's that famous i guess it was a tweet at the time that went around of like why is it that every time you turn on an mls game there's some kid named cade or donovan or whatever who's supposed to be the best player in the world jack mcglenn and teddy cootie ph are kind of cades so like not really the worst thing in the world theodore yeah theodore i thought that fits I agree And

What there's a Cade on There's a Cade on St. Louis for sure Cade Cowell obviously as well Am I missing any Cades In Major League Soccer right now I don't know I wasn't ready to go through my roll The other one is if you flip The combination you end up with a

Trash Morgan was way ahead of me I'm glad should these be called trashes like cage will you would you skeet the phrase x team has trashed x player to this team for four to five million dollars no i wouldn't i'd get angry calls and be like what are you telling me that my move sucks or my player sucks? Get out of here. I can't do that. Will you call them a cake? On the podcast, yes. I got to figure out how to skeet that better. But the problem here within is somebody put in the this is it has to be cash trades like that's what the mechanism has to be called, whether it has to do with agreements with the MSPA or creativity or if it's just, you know, maybe I'm reading too much into it and that's just what they decided to call it.

I don't know, but that's kind of why it is like this. But I think that we need to be colloquial about it. Someone put in dollar allocation money, which is damn. Listen, I get it. You have to call it a cash for trade. Otherwise the NASL will sue you and then you have to go to court. And then it's like a whole thing after that. And then the Carmelo Anthony is going to get the post.

Actually, if I can make that happen, if I get to be there, then I'm good with that. So you would call them trashes to meet three to the. Yeah, I would. I would. And I would bring my dog mellow and be like, Mello, meet Mello. And he would appreciate that. Real allocation money is a good one. Ram.

So that's... I enjoy that. Caden Clark, we forgot, by the way, on my list of Cadens. Super Swaps is an interesting one as well that's put in here. And shout out to Antonio Rubio. We will get to your question in a little bit.

So there's a lot of good ones in there i think dam is a good one i think real allocation money ram is a decent one as well i think cades is probably leading the category i might put a poll in the discord after this one to see what people think so if you don't subscribe to our patreon you get access to our discord um we are adding more people every single day we're enjoying it in there it also gets you access to all our depth charts and everything else that we've got going on so right now we sit at cage we will talk about a number of caves coming up later in the episode but let's start with the biggest move outgoing wise i guess it's the biggest move of the season.

Cucho Hernandez, who has been the face of Columbus crew over the last three years, helped put together one of the most successful runs in the club's history in a 12 month span. You talk about an MLS Cup win. You talk about a League's Cup victory and you talk about a CONCACAF Champions Cup final appearance as well. An MVP finalist as he spent his time here and, of course, helping lead them in those finals. I think he was MLS Cup MVP as well after getting that victory. He came over originally from England in one of the biggest transfers in league history, has worked his way towards the Colombian national team off and on in his time in major league soccer. And now he is headed to real. Batiste is the official word that we have gotten in a massive transfer

going out of the league as well. Yeah, this is a huge deal. Gucho Hernandez leaving the Columbus crew on deadline day for real Batiste. That deal was kind of, again, there was,

I was talking to sources. It was, you know, 45 minutes before the deadline closed. I was like, hey, not totally formalized yet. And I said, is there anything to worry about here? And he's like, no, it's just formalities and stuff. And then I was like, yes, but also that was the thing with Duncan McGuire last year. So I think everybody has that in the back of their head. But no, there was, this wasn't really a race against the clock. Once things had been agreed, this really advanced over the last 48 hours before the window was closing and Real Betis. I'd heard for probably like a week before the deadline, I was like, hey, there's a team in Europe that seemed really likely to make a serious, real run at Cucho

Hernandez and this could be something that happened. I didn't know who the club was or what exactly was going to happen. There was another club, I believe Almeria was another team that had interest, but when Real Batiste went for it, I think this is a great landing spot for Kuchar Hernandez. It is well deserved. This is, like you say, with the Colombian national team, it is obviously more likely that he will get more time with the Colombian national team and get more looks by being at Real Batiste. We can't lie, that is a higher level than MLS being in La Liga where they are. It is selfishly a sad day for people who watch this league all the time. I can't imagine what the Columbus crew fans feel. Some combination of obviously pride for their guy, but just, hey man, this sucks that we don't get to watch

Kukjo Hernandez every weekend. The discord chat was diving into the reddit comments of your stories breaking the zeller ion news as a way to try and digest confused to try and digest the kucho stuff that's how down bad a lot of them are the difference so the difference there was they only sanctioned that deal because that was right before the summer transfer window and MLS was closing which closed obviously much before the European one so they had set a deadline we will only sanction the Zellerian deal if we get our target and at that point it was Diego Rossi and they did they only said yes to Zellerian leaving because hey we have 48 hours as long as we're confident this is going to get over the line we'll do it it's a little bit of a different

situation I'm not suggesting that they don't have exactly who they want lined up, but there is no time crunch in the same way that it was for Diego Rossi to come in and Zalaranzi to leave. And plus, it was a little bit different circumstances. This was, again, a 25-year-old going to Real Batista. They're 10th in La Liga, but they're only three points off sixth, and sixth gets you in the European competition. This is one of the bigger teams in Spain.

This is obviously below the Madrid- madrid barcelona level but it is above the you know upper mid-table team or they should be around the uh european places every season that being said like that is different than zelrayan going to saudi that was okay like this is life-changing money for you we get that but like we need to have our our replacement sorted because we have a deadline coming up. I'm confident that they, not confident, I know for a fact that they were ready with targets.

It's not like they're going to be like, oh crap, we lost Kuchar and Endez. Let's start figuring out a number nine to try to sign. I don't know how far along they are in their decision-making process in what they believe deals can be gotten for, but I know that they've done the legwork of here's our short list these are the players that we think could fit and this

is what we want and maybe there's going to be multiple additions I don't know we'll see but the Columbus crew are obviously not blindsided by this because this has been on the table for a while and I've reported that about a month ago six weeks ago whatever it was that Cucho Hernandez was open to staying with the new contract so this has been on the table all offseason. So they're not caught by surprise by this. And my understanding is they bought him for roughly $11 million. $10 million. And they're going to sell him now for $16 million?

So up to $16 million. I don't know how much of that. I'm sure it is mostly guaranteed fee with some add-ons. But they have what i was told is a significant sell-on clause so they're betting that real batiste is not the be all end all for him and that there will be one more move and that's them betting on a player that they believe and i think guys i'll speak for the both of us that you and i believe can still get to another level like i think that this is a premier league level player and if that happens

in two years of columbus crew um having played the long game instead of saying, all right, we'll take $20 million and no sell-on clause. And again, I'm not suggesting this. It was on the table, but just doing it as a thought exercise. They believe $16 million plus a sell-on clause is going to be more valuable than let's just sell 100% of the player right now. It also, even if it's not the jump, because we just had this conversation around John Duran of like,

what's the jump what's the level I think Cucho is at the level in which even if it's a lateral move of some sort as he goes forward um there's still probably going to be a decent sum in there and so you're probably going to get an okay number off a percentage if he gets sold to a Serie A team of a similar level if he gets sold to the Bundesliga if he goes to a Galatasaray or a Porto or something like that, which at 25 years old I don't think is impossible to say. And maybe this helps him get into the Colombian national team more consistently, and maybe that increases the speculation around him, the value,

all of those types of things. And so there is that value in the sell-on. Either way, you make out pretty well from a financial point of view, which is you brought him in, you got everything you wanted as a player, and then you almost doubled, or you almost got half of what you bought him for originally on top of what it was. This is why you spend on a player of his age, because the potential to send them back out after good years

and still either break even or make a profit is there if he is 28 when he comes in that cell doesn't exist on the back end of it at a number like this and if they're 30 or 31 there is no sale at all at the end of it it's just most likely a player saying i want to go home and going to a smaller club in whatever country they're from and whatever happens it's just most likely a player saying i want to go home and going to a smaller club in whatever country they're from and whatever happens it's why i i think tim bezbachenko and his group mate took the risk with kucho because they believed the value would always be there and we also have to remember um they brought him in in the middle of 2022 and they like he settled for a half year before the 2023 season and so so they got the deal done when they could.

It felt like a big move when it happened. I remember interviewing Tim Bezbichenko the day after and sort of saying, like, this isn't exactly the model we've seen for a team like Columbus, let alone any MLS team. And I think we've seen more teams go in this direction of guys at his level right on the edge of their teams that you think have more potential. You think are being played out of position, whatever it is and giving them an opportunity. You can feel the frustration from Columbus fans. I think I said it to you in our pre-show meeting, like to me,

champions cups off the table. Do I think that this is a Columbus team that's going to fall through the floor of the Eastern conference right now, I'm willing to wait. I remember how good Wilfred Nance's Montreal teams were when they didn't have the same level of talent that Columbus has had. But the reason they won MLS Cup was because you had Wilfred Nance with elite talent. So I think he can help elevate teams. I think he can keep teams higher than maybe they should be on pure talent. I think he can elevate players like he did with Georgie Mihailovic and Ismail Kone and a lot of those players.

But those are also really good players. And Columbus has some of that still. But when you lost Zellerion and you still had Cucho, it was different than losing Cucho and still having Diego Rossi. The second player in that conversation are not the same right now. I agree. And that's a good way to spin it forward of I'm currently and this isn't a knock on Columbus because like you said, it's wait and see. They could sign somebody who's awesome. We just don't know yet. And there's too much unknown with this team. Whereas, you know, there's Miami, there's Cincinnati, and there's still some unknown around both of those clubs.

Look, Miami has a new head coach. Since you're still dealing with the Lucho Acosta situation and trying to bring in Evander and whatever else happens there, Kevin Denke, like for everything that we think he's going to be, you never really know until the player comes in MLS. I think that there are significantly less questions there than there are here now because replacing Cucho Hernandez isn't a like-for-like thing I was talking to somebody in the weeks leading up again I want to be clear not somebody at the Columbus crew but people who know like hey Columbus maybe they're in the market for a DP number nine and a DP number 10 and I was like really like I guess that means it's like I think the idea around the league is Kucho was the nine and a half. He was a DP nine and DP 10 all by himself. You know what I mean? So whether you, you go and get like more of a pure goal scorer or more of a pure chance creator,

he was both of those players in one. So this is an extraordinarily special player. There is no like for like replacing him. His time in MLS was awesome. like i know that he wasn't here he was here for two and a half seasons um he's going to be remembered in the lore not just for crew fans as he always should be but i think for wider mls fans the those of us who are watching this league even if you're a fan of another team like cincinnati fans in our discord are like um i'm half selfish i'm happy because this guy's a menace, right? But they're saying, you know, I feel for you guys. I understand it, right?

Like, even Cincinnati fans are like, damn, that sucks for you. And not in a like, ha-ha, that sucks for you. Like, it's like, wow, man, like genuine empathy. So if Kujo Hernandez can do that for Cincinnati fans, for the average fan watching across the league, and just like watching good soccer. Like, this dude was a joy. He typified everything that Wilfred Nance brought to this team.

He imbued it. Like, again, this was a perfect partnership because, again, I think Cucho was really, really good for half a season under Caleb Porter. It was obviously a different level under Wilfred Nance. So those two things worked in conjunction. The same way that he worked in conjunction with Christian Ramirez and Diego Rossi. That front three, that interchange, you had no idea where any one of those three were going to pop up.

The trophies that they won, the soccer that they played the the scenes from that stadium the way that the fans interacted with this club this was as special a two-year run as I can remember in recent history like I don't know if it can go down the same way as as Miguel Morones two first two seasons in Atlanta but I'm putting it up there because that's exactly how I felt watching this team just like watching Miguel Morones and Joseph Martinez in those first two years in Atlanta, but I'm putting it up there because that's exactly how I felt watching this team, just like watching Miguel Moron and Joseph Martinez in those first two years in Atlanta. No, he is, to me, Miggy was the name as well. When we said like, okay, let's try and put Cucho's legacy into context of who he, what he is, what he means both to the crew and to major league soccer, um, tier nine and 10 point i like using fb ref everyone has different

platforms they like to use he's in the 99th percentile on assists expected assists as well as shot creating actions and goals as well as passes attempted for a player at his position as well as successful take-ons as well as interceptions like we're talking about everything we're talking about a creator we're talking about a guy who can create for his teammates and himself. We're talking about a central force of the game that you can play through. And we're talking about one of the great finishers in the history of Major League Soccer for the way he finished, for the things he did, and a guy who elevated for the biggest games.

That's the, like, last piece of this. You could do it in August. You can do it in September. He did it in semif this you could do it in august you can do it in september he did it in semi-finals he did it in finals he didn't i'm not saying it looked easy but they looked like normal games with him it just didn't look harder a lot of these times and when you go to mls cup and you talk about the way that he could pull players out of position and understand all of the movements that col that Columbus had set up to open up the space for multi-adminson to play a through ball for you know center backs to get pulled

across with him he was the cheat code for a lot of what happened and I go back to the Zellerion time of he was playing out on the left a little bit he was almost a winger at times and a pure creator just to make it all work. Zeller on left, he became the 10. Rossi comes in. Sometimes he's the nine. Sometimes he's the 10 swapping off and on. Christian Ramirez, a huge part of that as well. A lot of that stuff worked at the elite level. It worked at because Cucho was willing to make it work because the way he worked and just because of his pure quality and talent. Like he's one of the great players in MLS history. His run, I think will be one of the ones we talk about when you go back to some of these players. And I think Miguel Almiron is a good example.

Carlos Vela at his peak is a good example, a different time of his career. I think that's similar to what you're talking about. Obviously Landon Donovan and Robbie Keene are players that go in those categories as well. Nico Lodero, Clint Dempsey. There are all these players in this. I think Cujo deserves to be in a conversation with all of them. Maybe he's not over all of them. And maybe if another final had gone his way or the playoff run last year goes his way or if he stays a little longer. But I think it was long enough to say that it wasn't a flash in the pan good season he was an impact player I totally agree and again

that's why I do the comp with Miguel Maroon like I think we talk about him as one of the greats it's best versus greatest kind of thing though you know what I mean because to be like to be greatest it's you have to have that longevity you have to have what Landon Donovan had like that there's a reason why we're not saying necessarily saying like Wondolowski and Kai Kamara, but when you talk about the greatest MLS players of all time, those are the guys because they have the longevity. So it's like these different buckets, and again, sports talk radio, like the way that you can split hairs, but that's why.

First time long time here, Tom. Let me tell you something. That's why I think the Miguel Moron makes sense because the way that mls fans media people within the league like talked about miguel marone after he left mls was like again like you could just put his raw numbers and the totals don't equal some of the all-time greats because it was a short term but i think that we all can see greatness and where that transcends from oh that was a really good season or that was a really good run, to like, no, that was a special, special time, and this is a special, special

player in a special team. Everything coalesced to be great because, again, like, you need Wilford Nazi or whatever, right? Like, in that first half season when it was like, oh my goodness, how great are they before Zell Ryan leaves and Rossi comes in, the defense was really suspect, and it went like, this is a cute, this is a fun team, this is a nice story. I love watching them play. I don't know if we can take them seriously in the playoffs. And then Rudy Camacho comes in and then Steven Marrera goes from an okay right back to the best defender in the league as a right center back. And Malte Odmanson goes from on the bench at NYCFC to starting left center back and playing an incredible MLS Cup final. So you need all these things to happen for the team success, but there was no bigger driver in this team's success on the field

than Kucho Hernandez. And he also was that safety valve of like, Aiden Morris is gone, well, you know, the floor will only drop so low because you have him. And he's not there anymore. And so I think the Columbus fans' angst is fair. It now creates a new dynamic, one of, is Columbus going to reinvest this money so do they go even

bigger is it 11 million dollars out the door 16 million dollars in so now 16 million dollars out the door and like is there another step is there another player in kucho's profile that you can convince to come because it's not always so simple to find the right piece we've seen how long this process has been for atlanta and we'll about Latte Loth in a little bit, but it's not simple to find the right person who wants to be there and wants to be a part of the project. Or is Columbus a team now

that comes into the conversation with some of these potential Cades or potential Trashes or potential, wait, I wrote some other good ones down. We've got MAMS, money allocation money. We've got ARMS, actual real money. We've got SPAMams money allocation money we've got arms actual real money we've got spam special allocation money we've got damn dollar allocation money as well so are they now maybe

in the conversation for whether it's some of the names we already know or here's a huge number that we can throw at another team to get someone they thought they weren't going to give up on there's a lot to think about right now in Columbus. They are now from stable, we kind of know what it looks like, to one of the biggest question marks in MLS. And that's not where we thought it would be at this point of the offseason. And so that is a huge shift for this club. Let's move into our next conversation.

Let's talk about SKC. We talked about them a bit. Last two weeks. Expecting these two signings from Aris Thessaloniki. To come through. And man they blew it out of the water right before. We mentioned the connection between Dejan Jovalic and Tigris. Last week.

The Tigris of the Midwest baby. We thought they were Thessaloniki. We thought it was Aris on the banks of the Mississippi. And instead, it is Tigris in Kansas City, as Dejan Jovovich is, what, ends up being officially the first Cade in MLS history? Yeah, yeah, because we kind of thought that that Jack McGlynn deal was going to get announced first. But no, it was officially Dejan Jovovich as the first one to get announced.

$4 million from the LA Galaxy, and he signed a brand new contract to boot. As we talked about in the show, that was the reason why the Galaxy had to move on from him. Both cap constraints, plus we can't make you a DP. And I'll tell you right now, the numbers I've heard, he is not kind of on the borderline DP. It's a significant fee, a significant contract. And I never thought that we would be sitting here, David Goss, on this podcast saying, you know what? Sporting Kansas City outbid that little team in Mexico called Tigres.

Like, usually when Tigres says, I want a player, they get that player. They put it down a blank check. So that ambition, the financial ambition, that is something that I think we've critiqued Sporting Kansas City from in the past i i think we give them all the credit in the world here because this is a serious signing they went out and said hey he just scored 20 20 goals in mls yes this is going to be expensive and you know who knows if we'll give him the same kind of service whatever it is we want that guy let's go get that guy um i would like credit at some point on this show for going full weeby on this picking a thing and then just slamming it down everyone's throat so it becomes a reality

and then in like two or three weeks i'll turn around and be like i wish we didn't have to say this anymore so i just want that to be out there i also look forward to hearing a text from we be about this what normally he's about eight days behind on shows nine days whatever it is it's you can tell when it's coming when you get the first one it's like oh that was the first five minutes of the show like here let's go like i'm excited i'm ready to go and that show was eight days ago and it's no longer what we're talking about but still um i appreciate it so i think a lot of i agree on a lot of what you said this is an ambitious move from sporting kansas city it is a necessary moment for them to re-energize their fan base. Getting a known quantity is good. I just don't know if I would have made this move. I think one

is, I think Willie Agata is a deal. Like Willie Agata is going to give you high level TAM production at that center forward position. If you set him up well enough it could be borderline dp low end dp production that's an advantage you have already built in the other side of this is as good as jovilich was last year he was playing around the three best playmakers in major league soccer and so if you give him all this, do you have the resources to put the pieces around him for his best skill sets? And while he's grown as a player, undoubtedly, there's a reason Greg Vanney wasn't starting him for long stretches because he needs chance creation from the people around him. And when the Galaxy weren't capable of that, he wasn't doing enough to earn his time on the field. And he wasn't effective enough because he didn't get to do the thing that he does well.

Goals cost money. I will never deny if you can get a true goal scorer and a head-down finisher in the biggest moments, I get it. He scored some of the biggest goals in the history of the LA Galaxy, including the one in the semifinal against the Sounders, which is a special thing to do. I don't know that this is the way I would have gone about it, though, if I was sporting Kansas City.

I understand kind of the thought process here, and I'm not even necessarily saying you're wrong. What I will say is I really like the Manu Garcia signing. I think that that's a real DP number 10. I don't think that – I would be – I'd have more questions about the Yovlitz edition if that didn't happen. And it would be, it would mirror a lot about like what we said about Hugo Kuypers with Chicago. Like, I think we both like him as a player, but you're, you're, you need to build through the spine and have the structure ready to bring in a player like that,

because that is not a luxury player, but that's, that's a final piece kind of player. That's not a, how are we rebuilding this thing? And I think both of us would look at Sporting Kansas City and say that they needed to rebuild. Well, they're bringing in Manu Garcia. That's not a how are we rebuilding this thing. And I think both of us would look at Sporting Kansas City and say that they needed to rebuild. Well, they're bringing in Manu Garcia. That's a DP number 10. I don't know enough about Shopee Suleimanov to know even what his necessarily – Which is a letdown because you were my Shopee Suleimani guy.

Is he a chance creator or is he a finisher? I'm assuming he's a chance creative type because Daniel Shallowy is the inside forward type on the other wing. Eric Tommi, I think, is creative. I think that this helps Eric Tommi get better. Or not get better. To produce more. Again, but a lot of this is going to hinge on Manuel Garcia.

And I generally believe in that signing. That is in relation to Dejan Jovovich. There are still questions about this defensive structure. Is Redoya good enough to be the six in a team that is defending? And thus, are we going to ask the same questions of, well, they still struggle in defensive transition, and they're conceding too many goals to make this attack that I think is going to be much better,

or are they conceding too many goals to make it work? I will say, though, like last year struggled, the first third of 23 struggled, and then they were one of the better teams in the West for two-thirds of 2023. If that's what they are this year, Dan Jovovich, Manu Garcia, and Shapi Suleymanov, and whatever else that they do, then it makes sense. I still think those questions are there. And now, like, MLS is in such a way that I even think three years ago,

you sign a player from within MLS that had 20-plus goals and comes from an MLS Cup-winning team, and a DP No. 10 to boot, you kind of blindly go, all right, they're going to make the playoffs. Like, right now, you look at the Western Conference, the teams that missed the playoffs, like St. Louis, we talk about them and everything they did in the summer transfer window. That is a completely different team than where they were mid-season last year. San Jose Earthquakes have Bruce Arena, Chicharongo, everything else that they're doing, and we'll see what else.

There are more moves to come for that team. Austin FC, they missed the playoffs. They just went out and spent $22 million on two center forwards. FC Dallas is the only one that it's like right now because they're very incomplete. They have more signings to go where you go, okay, I see. I get it. Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps, they could be on the playoff line.

Vancouver Whitecaps have Ryan Gould. Vancouver Whitecaps have a lot of really good players. Portland Timbers, Evander, who, again, we're assuming he's going to leave, but there's no guarantee. They still have Jonathan Rodriguez. They still have, insert, you know, Santi Miranda. If Evander leaves, they will spend more money on another DP. In the past, we would be like, oh, that's automatically a playoff team.

Right now, I can't say that about supporting Kansas City while still holding space for it. I like these moves. Yes. It is. I think all of that's fair. And like, I think the known quantity part of it, the fact that you could get it done now,

all of that makes sense to me. I'm also trying to remind myself, this is who I thought Chicho was when he came to RSL at the number he came at. And he showed there was more to his game when he had the opportunity to do it. And Jovulic, I think, is still at an age where those steps can come, right? came at and he showed there was more to his game when he had the opportunity to do it and jovlich i think is still at an age where there where those steps can come right he can still get better if

there's space for him to fill if there's a need for him to do it um i think it is a stabilizer for this club and maybe this puts willie agata on a trade market and maybe you can get assets for him going forward saying like we have depth i always look at MLS teams and say, if you have depth, I'm looking4 million on this, it's they spent what, $8, $9 million on these three players to revamp the attack, revamp the team, get younger. So you hopefully get more minutes. You hopefully get more athletic. If you get more athletic, can you make a Radoja's life easier? If you have more movement in front of him, if you're closing down faster, we already

know you talked about a potential upgrade at center back and getting younger and more athletic at that position as well. So I think if I was an SKC fan, I'd be excited because right now I need to make the playoffs. And you're closer to doing that than you were a day ago. You're closer to that than you were six months ago. Are you on the pathway to MLS Cup? I don't know. But maybe I'm wrong for starting there. And maybe I'm wrong for trying to push that. Either way, I think it's a really good week for Sporting Kansas City fans. For a club that just like hasn't made waves in such a long time to bring in three pieces at the same time and get them all done this early, get them into preseason, get them available for, um, for like the full stretch of the season. That's gotta be exciting for sporting Kansas city fans, uh, going forward and the first official

Cade. Let's dig into some other Cades here though. Let's get into the nitty gritty. Let's start with Jack McGlynn. Jack McGlynn has been sold from the Philadelphia union to, um, to the Houston dynamo, which is just not a phrase I've ever had to make before. Dustin Branham in the chat said, this is a cash for, which is also a really good one instead of a transfer. Uh, that one now is officially in the running for me on this.

I like that. But like, I saw this and it broke my brain even more. So I think then the coup d'etre move tom what have you gotten so far as you've talked to people about this all right um i don't even know where to start there are so many different threads that this could go so you tell me do you want it from the houston side or the philly side or the players let's start philly side okay philly side i think that there was an understanding that it was ready for both

parties to move on i think we just expected it to be europe um on the philly side for that the the biggest offer they got was like 2.25 million something like that from chisina in siri b that's a relegation threatened club in Serie B. That was shocking to me that that was where the offer in Italy was. I don't know if I personally would have taken it, and that doesn't even matter, even if I was a player is kind of what I'm saying. But for Philly, they went with the lower immediate fee, but some add-ons, but most importantly, the 50% sell-on clause. And that is also because right now, Philly, and this is going to probably be difficult to follow along audio-wise,

but I'm going to do my best here when I'm throwing around these numbers. Right now, Philadelphia Union, they have 50% of this deal when he leaves Houston. Of that 50%, they only have 60%. So let's just use the numbers. I think this makes it easier. Let's say Houston sell them for $4 million. $2 million goes to Houston. $2 million goes to Philly.

Of that $2 million that goes to Philly, they owe 20% each to the Red Bulls and NYCFC as a resolution for them poaching this player from their homegrown territorial rights and, in MLS's eyes, skirting the rules around this. So as part of the, okay, slap on the wrist, both of these clubs, because he's from New York City, both of these clubs get 20% of the sell-on in the future. So they still have that, and that's part of the math here too. But that doesn't mean that Houston only have 10%. Houston have the 50%, and then whatever Philly gets from their 50%

they then have to give to the Red Bulls and NYCFC so that's where this all comes from and then the other side even Philly understand you're going to be in a better spot to perform in Houston game model than ours I don't disagree I don't agree with it like I agree with the sentiment but I don't agree with sending him away because I don't care if he fits the game model there's always room for a player like him and he he's really, really good. So that's where it is from the Philadelphia Union side of things. And so on the Philly side, I think when this first happened, it starts to recognize with the new rule us processing it, right?

Because we had spent a long time talking about Evander and Lucho, and I thought this was a possibility. I did a Nashville podcast yesterday pharmaceutical soccer go listen to it they're great and I talked about a rule like this how it could affect teams like a Nashville like a Colorado like these other teams that aren't maybe operating for the latte lots of the world and I do think convincing your owner to spend money on known quantities can be easier for some of these teams and going out and getting players in different situations i think day on your village

is probably a better example makes a ton of sense of like he's a dp level talent his team can't afford to pay him a dp contract we can do it we don't have to take the risk on a player coming into major league soccer that sets us up for jack mcglynn we've seen some moves like this this is in line with the georgie mihailovich move of like we think not only is there more there but we will elevate them in our system so that this player will be a top three option in our team and we think they're good enough to do it what's a little confusing here is feels like philly thinks he's good enough to do it and so that's where it's shocking to have a player like this have this happen when you look at it now from the houston point of view it makes a decent amount of sense he is not the same style as ache ache or

coco caraschia but he is an elite passing player in a similar area of the field as them. And he fits the model to an extent. And he is a more affordable option probably for what they're trying to put together in that midfield. Is that your read on this? Yes. So he will play the Hector Herrera role. So he won't be the, so what they'd like to do is the, that box midfield and they have Griffin Dorsey kind of overlapping on the right so instead of playing the Coco Carrasquillo which was like a right attacking midfielder he's going to be the Hector Herrera the number eight the one that is tasked with driving the game forward and I love that for him I love this fit I was I think that this is an A-plus signing by the Houston Dynamo I can't say enough good things about being able to identify and in some, having the audacity to even ask.

Because this is one of the many reasons I'd probably be a bad sporting director. I would have looked at that and said, what is the point in calling Philadelphia about Jack McClure? Why would I bother? Why would I disrespect them by suggesting maybe you could trade him to us? But these are conversations that happen all the time and teams saying, hey, what about this player? What about this player? Famously, I think, Goss, you and I have used this example before on previous shows that there is a team in MLS that has a list that they update. What are our values?

What do we value all these other players in the league? And every, you know, twice a year, hello, hey, what do you think, how much would you trade this player for? Okay, does it match our valuation? No? Okay, hang up. And then you make that call a thousand times so I respect them but even the audacity for saying you know maybe we could bring Jack McGlynn and maybe we could convince him and convince Philly and do everything else so for me like on that like that's an A-plus signing for

the player the idea is still going to be Europe in the future and we'll like I think Houston's going to help him get him help get him there Philly would have as well, of course. But again, I still think that this is just a better situation for him in terms of the playing style, the game model, and what he's going to be asked to do with Houston. And we'll see what that leads to in the future. But everything is still on track for this player to go to Europe. It's just via Houston rather than via Philly.

If you want a sneak peek, go watch the January friendly against Venezuela. This was the role he played. He was the eight alongside another center mid. He took the ball off the center backs. He was the first option for fullbacks in the build out. He was the one picking his head up, trying to break lines, trying to progress the game. And then when the game progressed, he was the one following it up, connecting the play. And we saw the shot that he hit from distance like first of all if you can in

some world find any betting place that will give you a line on past completion percentage for jack mcglenn last year he was at one of the lowest in mls because he played for philly go find that and hit the over because he is going to completely shift the things that he's asked to do and as you said it's all going to go towards his skill set. For Houston, the fortunate part of this, there's multiple ways this goes well. One, you sell him for a ton of money. Two, he plays really well and you win soccer games. This isn't just one angle.

It's what I just said about Cucho. He is young enough for there to be multiple avenues for this to go. He could play and play okay. And someone still wants to come in and get him because they like the skill set he has and they like his pedigree so there's a lot that can go right here they probably need to make another move or two of strong quality player to like help carry some of the load around him because Hector Herrera is one of the best players in the history of CONCACAF it's just a lot of responsibility on a young player's shoulders.

But I brought up Georgie. I don't know that we knew Georgie could carry the game the way he did when he got to Montreal and then did it again in Colorado. Cole Bassett did it in Colorado his first year as a starter in a way that maybe we didn't think he could. So I think players like this, if you you trust them can grow into some opportunity um i want to throw this at you because um we had antonio put this in the chat about um in a super chat in uh about houston he brought up felipe andrage and bruno duarte who are two brazilian players that have been connected to houston what do you hear about houston now after

the jack mcgllynn move going forward? I was so blindsided by the Jack McGlynn move that I used all of my capital and annoying people to ask about this. And like, again, obviously this was something that had to be top secret. And so I had to, I had to work pretty hard to get this one out. So I've since been sending messages since that super chat has come. I don't, I'm not saying that anything is not true. I just don't have my own confirmation on it. We shall see. Again, I know that they're in the market for a DP 10.

I know that that that's what the goal is. And that seems like a profile that might make sense. They're not going to go out and spend $10 million. I believe that that report from Serbia said something in the region of 5 million. That is the top target. That is not the player. The top target is to get a DP10.

And I do know Andrade is a young center back. I haven't heard anything to suggest that that move derailed. I think I reported it was nearing a deal or final. I was like, what are those words? I always forget after 10 days and 1,000 different things happening. Incoming trash. We've got a cash for on the verge of occurring um that would not that would that's just a regular transfer because it doesn't involve

an mls club this so that would be the luminance but i i thought you were stopping in as break news that something no i'm sorry tom that's not how this this relationship goes i don't do that no but that sounded like the oh the news is i gotta stop you here's something that just got announced so um again i wish particularly after super chat that i had something uh better and more form for you but but that's tsg in the chat i tried i tried sorry i tried to text somebody this is the text that i got back because i'm typing my my computers over there i had multiple typos and I just get a response back. Are you drinking? No, I'm just trying to do a live show. TSG in the chat might be says as a Houston Dynamo fan, this is a huge

signing and Jack McGlynn fits us perfectly, especially when we need a corner and a free kick taker. Jack McGlynn set piece specialist. A lot of excitement there. We also have a comment from someone that said need to go out and get a ball winner alongside McLean. Arter obviously is the starter in that role. Arter, I think, is one of the best two-way sixes in Major League Soccer. He is not elite as a ball winner. Houston's probably hoping that the game model covers them in a way in which they don't need that, and they're really good at the center back position. It's not different than where they were. Aceh Aceh wasn't an elite, you know, ball winner. He wasn't going to go and win the ball back for you consistently.

And so nothing shifts here. That's where it fits into the game model and all of that as well. But this is, I think this is going to be one of my favorite stories of the year. Like to watch Jack McGlynn get this this responsibility get this role on this team to watch a mls team willingly sort of build it around a player like this is going to be great and we're going to sort of see okay what's the value in these cash for trades what's the value that you can get inside the league and it feels like these moves are going to be sort of the decider of how people start to treat this rule going forward. On the backside, the Philadelphia Union signed sort of a replacement, Serbian central midfielder Jovan Lukic.

Not, you know, Luka Doncic, not Dejan Jovalic. There's a lot of names in there. Jovan Lukic to come in for Philadelphia as they look to try and reset this roster going forward under Bradley Carnell and reset things without Jim Curtin. It is going to be a odd opening day experience, I think, for Philadelphia Union fans to not just have Jim Curtin gone, but a lot of the key pieces that have been a part of this. No Jack Elliott, no Jack McGlynn, Julian Carranza, of course, already gone from this group as they go forward. Let's go to our next big cash for. Let's talk Teddy Cudi Pietro to the Colorado Rapids, which you broke earlier today and broke my brain because we did our Colorado Rapids season preview last night that we were getting ready to put out alongside holding the high line.

The best source for any of your Rapids coverage in soccer in Colorado overall. And this move kind of is in line a lot with what we talked about. The last piece this club needed for this year was a chance creator off the wing, was maybe a secondary or third goal scorer alongside Georgie and Hoffa Navarro. And this is how Colorado chose to go about it. Yeah, I really like this addition. So Colorado Rapids have acquired Teddy Cudi Pietro for $1.125 million plus some add-ons.

I'm told the add-ons are something that Colorado would be delighted to pay because it would have to do with a lot of team success and a lot of individual success. So just looking at it from the $1.125 million, he'll carry over as a U-22 initiative signing for the Colorado Rapids. This is a player that they are very, very excited about because he's already playing in the high-pressing transitional type system in D.C., but every one of these systems has their own tweaks on it.

And D.C.'s tweak, which they are correct to do, it doesn't sound like I'm criticizing them, their best form of attack is getting the ball towards Christian Benteke's forehead or his right foot. So that is how Teddy Cudi Pietro has been playing. So he's been playing off a target man. Hoffa Navajo is physical. He can do things physically, but there's going to be more chances for him to combine in the attack with Georgie Mihailovic, with Hoffa Navajo, with Kevin Cabral kind of being somebody who can get in behind and give some more space underneath. So I really like this fit.

Colorado Rapids are thrilled about the idea of bringing this player in. It's somebody that, you know, they've liked from afar for a while, and they're able to get a deal done. And again, I tweeted this as well, but Porrick Smith was one of the people driving or pushing for the cash trade market. And this is their first move here. So this shouldn't be surprising as a club that has acquired players from within the league very many times.

And also, again, now Americans that are coming back to MLS, you look at Sam Vines, Cole Bassett, George Mihailovic, Zach Steffen, like Reggie Cannon. This is in line with how they want to operate. And again, it should be unsurprising that they're making use of this new rule very quickly. And they go out and make use of it in a way in which they bring in a U22 initiative player. So he hits the cap at a low number.

You're also bringing in a domestic player. And I say this a lot, but when you look at these transfers and now these trades or cashfers or arms, whatever you want to call them, you've got to take $125,000 off the number because you don't have to go get an international roster spot or 150 or 175 that's either a you can sign another player or b you can then loan that spot out and what we literally saw for the seattle sounders was if you have enough of those it can equal a really good player on its own so that's something to think about in all of this it also is a player that's in line with what the Colorado Rapids want to be. They want to be a young team. They want to be a team

with heavy amount of domestic players and a team that can potentially have sell on value going forward. This move makes them better today. It makes them better, I think, as a club going forward. And you have enough of these players where, let's say, Pietro decides I want to stay right when Cole Bassett decides I want to make another run at Europe. There's probably enough stability in all of that, or you get good enough deals that you sell them all off and you're able to make enough money to help reinvest in this team. It is like we've talked about another mechanism to allow MLS teams to pick different ways to build themselves. And Cincinnati is not going to treat this rule the same way that Colorado is going to treat this

rule. And that's a good thing because it allows Colorado to steer even deeper into their lane and try and perfect what they do and hope that it's enough of a marketing efficiency that they can beat other teams. And this is an opportunity for them to do it. It probably pushes Kevin Cabral to the bench, which is probably a good thing as well. Maybe, but for those who have access to our depth charts, one of the things, the bigger changes that I made going into the offseason, I was told that the club were going to be tinkering with a back three,

and maybe that's how they were going to set up primarily. I've been told that in preseason they have been sticking with the 4-2-3-1. I'm assuming that that's going to be the primary formation. Look, they're going to do both throughout the season. But for me, I think that this means Georgie Mihailovic, Teddy Kudu Pietro, and Kevin Cabral as the three underneath Hoffa Navajo. Wait, say the three. So we've got Hoffa, you've got Teddy, Georgie, and Cabral.

And Cabral. That's what I – but again, like, obviously they're going to change. They're going to use their depth. Like Calvin Harris, Kamani Stewart-Baines, Omir Fernandez. Yeah, do not – do not question Omir again. We don't do that on this show. Everyone who counts Omir out ends up having to put him in a starting lineup. I didn't.

That's fair. That's fair. But the larger point of I think that they're going to be a 4-2-3-1 omir out ends up having to put him in a starting lineup i didn't that's fair that's fair but the the larger point of i think that they're going to be a 4-2-3-1 rather than the 3-4-2-1 that i thought you know a month ago yeah there's a lot more quality on the ball on this team we talked about it last night it'll come out in our feature he's one of the best passing center backs in the league you add that now to kuti pietro one of the best passing center backs in the league. You add that now to Coutinho Pietro, one of the best players at dribbling at pace, one of the best players at 1v1s in the open field,

which fits perfectly with this Colorado team that wants to play at altitude. They want to play fast games up and down. Now you have to put in tackles against Coutinho Pietro when he's running at you time and time again. He's been one of the fittest players in MLS all the way through his academy days. That was one of the things DC never questioned and always had confidence in. It's why he never really fit in a perfect position because he covers so much ground. He moves around so much as an attacking player. So I think it's very exciting for him. Again, what's the next step in responsibility? How can he settle into all of

this? As well as for colorado we have the question from douglas reyes saron and i promise um giyame we're going to get to your question in a moment who gave us a super chat but douglas reyes saron says i don't know how to view how to view this trade as a dc united fan what alan mckay may be thinking first of all douglas one of my favorites so thanks for being in here and thanks for the chat it is a little bit tough with dc united they are a team that is basically covering a dp contract for a player that's not going to play for them this year so it doesn't feel like there's a huge room for improvement on the roster to give away a player you think is good enough to be on your team and it not be a move that you couldn't say no to because that's one of the

things about running a team is if a player's dream is to play an x league and a team comes sometimes you can't say no even if it's not the number you want i don't know that the colorado rapids were theodore cootie pietro's dream team in the end so this is really a decision for dc to say let's take this money now because we don't think it's going to be there later. And I'm not shocked if you tell me we don't think we'll ever sell this player for over a million dollars to Europe. That doesn't surprise me at his age and his profile. That doesn't shock me. But with the way he's performed in MLS, you'd think this number would be there in MLS a year or two if that's really what you choose to do.

Yeah, I think that's a fair way to look at it. But I will say that I know the club are in the market to bring in another attacker. We'll see if they do get that over the line and whether or not that this deal, I'm assuming to believe that that means that that other deal they're pretty confident about. Or if not that, then they're pretty confident that they'll be able to bring in a replacement and that ownership is going to put up the money to do that. So we shall see what comes of DC United united again it's a it's a fair question

to ask and particularly for fans it's just the matthias click stuff like it's it's very unfortunate that they got stuck with that and and that all happened before the second buyout was brought in and again that would also require ownership to pay up and give them the discretionary spend that has not regularly been the case for this club over the years. So there's a lot there. I do think that Giammali Makai in the front office isn't in the easiest spot. So we'll see exactly what comes of this. But again, what they were hoping to see was more of an end product from Teddy Guti Pietro.

It hasn't come yet. I'd still bet that everything, that he gets in the right spots, his work rate, his ability to fit in this pressing system, his ability to play off Christian Betteke, I would still be saying I wouldn't give him another year. I believe it's going to come. But maybe they've concluded that they don't think it's going to. And I think that that's really wherein lies the difference of opinion

between D.C. and Colorado. And, again, this is me editorializing rather than hearing it from either side. But I think you do this trade if you're DC if you say he's not going to get any better or he's only marginally going to get better with his goal production because if he's not going to do that then we're going to need to go find another attacker anyway he's not going to play if he's not producing goals the Colorado side of this is saying we truly believe in our system that he's going to be contributing goals and assists so So I think that that's just what this comes down to. Midnight Surgery asks, will DC be closer to the spoon or the playoff line? It's a good question. They are definitely in that gap of teams right now that are similar to where they were last year. Like you're talking right outside, you're talking

play in, you're talking right outside the playoffs. I would choose to believe that cohesion of the system a year in plus what we've seen from benteke is enough to keep you towards a playoff line conversation and this is not what dc fans want to hear but cudi pietro as we said this is probably the peak of what you'll get from him it basically funds the academy for a year and there are talents in the dc area who can achieve more and so like this is maybe is a little bit of that bridge and i know if i'm a dc fan you're tired of hearing that because i've been saying it for four years of like they're doing better they're signing more local players christian fletcher's a part of it matai akimbone is a part of it these guys are willing to sign finally when they haven't been in the past. But your hope is that this is under new leadership and Ali Makai, that last bridge that you need

to then hopefully flood the team. And Kevin Paredes, the best example, but DC is good enough to have two or three pieces like that every other year. They should be in a Dallas Philly Red Bull conversation. And maybe you needed a little bit more time to get there. And your hope is that that's where this sits. Let's move into our ice cream shop. I'm going to answer Guillaume Desmers question. Is Montreal done in this window? I'm going to scoop you, Tom, on this one.

My sources tell me they've already done a lot of work is what they feel like. They're active, still looking for right fits, but they are not probably going to make any big moves for the rest of this window. And then they'll come back to things in the summer. They have made a lot of like, where you think this player can develop for us moves. They need to let those players develop before they make other moves on top of those. So thank you to Guilherme for the question. Rupes Sharma says, any updates on FC Cincinnati coming and going? Speaking of Lucho and Evander, who Tom, we thought would be the original Cades. Can you give us an update? Nothing. That's the thing. Look,

things are continuing to move. Like I've reported that Cincinnati are after Evander. Like that, that is is I'm afraid that this is such a fluid situation and they're like Phil Neville even said it yesterday and I've been reporting this that there is going to be a deadline that Portland has says okay you're either staying or you're going and if this deal doesn't happen the Cincy side of things is this depends on Lucho Cosa leaving they're not going to have them both and Lucho Cosa hasn't left I'm still working on that he got closer with personal terms with the Studiantes. There are still MLS teams that are at least calling about him.

So I don't know. So they're stuck there. Dallas also want a Vander, but Cincinnati are very firmly in the driver's seat. I would be surprised if he stayed in MLS and didn't go to Cincinnati. I think if I'm trying to scratch and figure out something that I haven't said yet, that's my feeling right now. But, again, it's a very fluid situation. But these are all connected because then Portland need to move on their replacement,

which I've reported is David DaCosta from Lens. Like, that player can't wait forever either. And it's not an ideal situation for that. If he was a regular key contributor at Lens, this would be off the table because the window's closed in Europe. So that's all part of it. So then a Vander can't go to Cincy until Lucho leaves. And if Lucho doesn't leave, then a Vander can't come. If Vander doesn't leave, then DaCosta can't come to Portland.

And then where does this happen with Dallas? Does Dallas try to get Lucho? Does Dallas, whatever, right? Like these are all the things that are all connected. And it's just one thing waiting on another. I was talking to a source about this probably an hour and a half before the show joking around of like i feel like i know more things but but it's all related to everything else and everything is stuck and it's just like yeah man like all these are connected and we're waiting for one thing

that's waiting on another thing and then they're all kind of circular and who knows one day someone's going to accidentally knock over one of those dominoes and it will all start to fall and then we will understand a lot more about all of this. And yes, we see all the comments from Columbus fans of being like, are we in this conversation now? Are we going to ruin FC Cincinnati's day? It is not outside the realm of possibility. I wouldn't think that Evander is the right fit for this Columbus setup in all the things you asked to do. But Evander, as I've come around to, is the right fit for every team because he is actually that good at soccer,

and that's probably how most teams would be looking at it. Let's go into the ice cream shop before we get out of here, and you go and learn how to speak Spanish so that we can redo this show in another language after this is done. Let's start in Orlando, I think, Tom, because there's been a lot of excitement and then some letdown for Orlando fans over the last few weeks. Yeah, so what I will say is the deal to sign Marko Pasalic, Croatia international from Rzika, is done. They have completed that. The deal is around $5 million. He's got five caps at Croatia.

He was part of their Euro 2024 team i will say i've spoke to like goes without saying orlando very happy about it they're excited about this player they um really wanted him and now they're getting him i've heard from other people that i trust to say like oh that's a good player and people who aren't incentivized to tell me that because it's not their team or their client or anything else so So I've heard some good news, which sounds good because his box score numbers don't jump off the page in Croatia. And it's always difficult because, like, and this is like David DaCosta in France. Like, some of these players, like, you can't just be like,

oh, he only had X amount of goal contributions in a league that's either comparable or, oh, he can't get in a lens. Like, should we be spending X amount of million dollars on him? I always go back to Carlos Hill. And yes, MLS has changed a lot in the five years or six years since he can't get in the lens, like, should we be spending X amount of million dollars on him? I always go back to Carlos Hill. And yes, MLS has changed a lot in the five years or six years since he got here. He didn't score a single goal for Aston Villa. And he came here and he's an MVP. Like, some players just need to be in different situations.

And, like, this isn't even like an LOL, like, Aston Villa's better than MLS. You look at George Mihailovic. I thought he was good with Chicago. He was great with Montreal. So these are things that, like, in a new system, in just a different stage of your career, things can change. So I was glad to hear that several people reached out and said, oh, that's

a really good player. Like, Orlando, that was a good signing. I was also told they are in advanced negotiations, nearing a deal. Signed Edward Atuesta from Palmeiras. Nothing is done there yet. It is complicated because Palmeiras need to, they also have international rush of slots. I don't know what they call it in the Brazilian league, but that is one of the reasons why Palmeiras are ready to let him go. But he, there's just been some kind of confusion

on if that deal is going to get formalized or not, but they are working hard to get Edward Atuesta to Orlando. Eddie Atuesta makes some sense in that with the Cartagena injury, they need to find minutes in central midfield. You want something a little bit of a known quantity and more trusted. He does not fit the soccer that they've played in that position, but you could reset things

and pull Araujo a little deeper and have him cover more and reset that midfield and give Atuesta the freedom he probably needs to be a pure passer alongside a destroyer it would change the way orlando plays they might not have a choice there in just like they're not going to find a pure replacement for cartagena perfectly for 12 months that's going to fit in all those things and so this might just be best

case scenario for them and so i don't hate the move in that way, even though it wouldn't be in a vacuum, what I would do for them and pass ledge. I would love this move. I would love this move. I'm just such a big fan. That's what I was. Yeah.

But like, that's because you want to play with him. That's doesn't mean you're going to build a midfield around him under Oscar Pereja. Fair. I get it. That's fair. I'm the same.

I put Jack McGlynn and Eddie out to us in central midfield alongside Gotti kinda and just let it run for like 57 straight games and i'd probably not break 500 which i would accept um on the pass ledge side like it feels like the right move of he is a more complete product and more veteran than what facu torres was when he got there and so you're not taking the full step back to rebuild after losing Fakou Torres you are starting a little bit closer and Ojeda will carry a lot of the attacking role but like can you get good production year one because they're in win now mode we've talked about this

over and over again I think this keeps them there there is another move that we you have put some talks out about that I don't want us to discuss because i don't want it to be a reality so you're on pretty thin ice right now as we go into our next ice cream shop comments and you have the choice to ever be invited back on this show which you co-host and so i don't know if it's even considered an invite or not but i i would paint this as forward because of how i framed this david Goss. Okay. It's Patrick Ajumang. Charlotte FC have rejected multiple offers from the championship for Patrick Ajumang.

Get out. Their stance is clear. He is our center forward. He is our player. He is not for sale right now. He's got two years left on his deal. Memory serves. It's an option here.

It's obvious. They're going to pick it up if he's here. But, you know, I know that his side is probably looking for a new contract whatever it is charlotte fc want to give him a chance to be the starting center forward right now and that is what they have told the english clubs and said hey we're not we're not giving you a hey if you give us x amount of million no he's not for sale a 71 000 deal for someone they think is their starting center forward you'd hope there's a new contract in there one day if he performs well. I love to hear that.

Now we're getting validation from real footballers like the Champo, like Europe, like places where people are foot, like true, like butchers are yelling at you and stuff like that. So now we can all accept that Patrick Ajman is our savior and is the only one who can carry us forward on the soccer field. So thank you for putting my heart at ease.

We didn't mention this when we did the Houston Dynamo, but you, I believe, reported Gavin Wolfe has swapped academies to follow his father. Yeah, Josh Wolfe is joining the club as an assistant coach, and Gavin, a 16-year-old boy, is following his father. Like that is – I saw somebody – I don't know, man. Like there's been some Austin fans that don't like Josh Wolfe and have – you know, pretending as if Owen Wolfe isn't good at soccer.

And it's like, oh, wow, like now nepotism. Now this kid – like David Goss, you know much more than me, and you were juiced about this kid. So I'm going to lay out and let you talk about Gavin. I said to you that if Josh Wolfe's a bad assistant coach, this would still be a good signing by Houston because Gavin Wolfe's that good. Neil Pierre signed a first-team deal with Philadelphia earlier today, I think. I think to me, he's the best center back prospect right now.

He is older than Gavin Wolf. Gavin Wolf is the best center back prospect in his class, and he might go on to be a starter for the U.S. men's national team. He's so good on the ball he could play in midfield. But he feels comfortable at the center back position. He can defend. He's played up years. He's physical enough at that spot.

But as composed on the ball as you've ever seen at the left center back position. This could be a huge thing for the Houston Dynamo. An academy that's been too far behind for too long. This is a guy who is the pearl in your academy that you build the whole thing around to try and get them to come through. So anyone, first of all, anyone who thinks Owen Wolfe isn't good at soccer doesn't know anything about soccer. So that's probably its own conversation that you can have on that side. But I think Gavin is the best of Josh Wolfe's kids that we've seen, and that's saying a lot when the other two are already full-time MLS players.

Yeah. I love also for the SoccerWise brand that we're talking about a 16-year-old academy kid before we've talked about the new league record signing. That's what you got to do. That's fair. In our defense, we have talked about Emmanuel Latelath plenty, but I'll use this as a transition. That deal is done.

It was announced Tuesday morning. Emmanuel Latelath to Atlanta United I'll use this as a transition. That deal is done. It was announced Tuesday morning. Emmanuel Latelath to Atlanta United for $22 million up front, plus some add-ons. This is a huge, huge deal. Atlanta United came into the winter with a lot to do and a lot of money to spend, and I think that they had our expectation that things were going to go well because of how good Garth Lagerwey has been at this in every stop he's had. The offseason isn't over yet, and they're sitting here with Chris Henderson, sporting director,

Ronnie Dyla as the new head coach, Miguel Moron back, Emmanuel Lattes left. That's two DPs and kind of a third DP in Mateus Click, which they're getting for $300,000 on the cap or whatever the exact number is. I'd say this is a pretty good win. Yeah.

No Tim Parker. The Red bulls are the ones who got that one done so that's one knock strike against uh this atlanta side but yeah it's going to be fun to watch this atlanta team we had someone in the comment section on the live show say i don't know that i've ever been more excited about an off season it's been an experience for us it's our first one here at soccer wise covering it full-time the way we're covering it and there's the one element of like news is exciting and you sort of we're always reacting to it and doing this show live has given us the ability to interact a little bit more and as things happen but it's also another off season for mls that has been just like massive changes

and now having our cashfors and our create arcades in the in the uh situation has changed the conversation i think in a better way of like now once a player says they want out we're still talking about them when it used to just be okay let's all go watch the argentine league and see how estudiantes looks so that by the time when lucho is done we can figure out who the next player is i think it's next player is. I think it's made it more fun. I think it's made it more exciting. I think you're seeing that for some fans. We all wish there were 60p spots

and we could talk about a million players at all this level. But for now, this is what we have. And this is everything that we're doing. And we're enjoying it here at SoccerWise. So thank you to everyone for joining us. Thank you to everyone who did a super chat. We appreciate the support. We appreciate the connection. Thank you to everyone for joining us. Thank you to everyone who did a super chat. We appreciate the support. We appreciate the connection.

Thank you to everyone for watching live. Thank you to everyone listening to the show via podcast. We appreciate all of the interaction. Anyone in the discord, you are going to get a chance to vote on what the name should be for this new mechanism. And I look forward to seeing it. And I look forward to pulling the full Weavey and slamming it into the ground

so that everyone is obsessed with it. As I mentioned, we're working on our season previews to come for Major League Soccer so we're going to be dropping some special episodes to put those out and they're going to be available on the YouTube page as well but we'll put out the announcement as we're ready to finally release them for the first time.

Tom, anything we forgot? Anything you want to add before we go? Nothing else. I just apologize in advance if news comes out over the next five hours, just like a couple weeks ago. But hey, we'll be back Thursday, no matter what happens. Listen, New York Knicks took down the Houston Rockets. Life is good. The boys are flying. The Brunson burner is on. Thank you to all of you for watching. Thank you to all of you for listening. Thank you to Tom. Thank you to Morgan. We'll talk to you all again very, very soon.