Riquelme to MLS?!
By: Dave Martinez | April 9th, 2008
Its always interesting when you have nothing better to do at work but troll for news and rumors from Argentina.
And its even better when Argie news means MLS news!
According to ESPNDeportes, Riquelme was offered a $15 million dollar contract by the MLS governing body. The LA Times reconfirmed it.
And the funny thing is, there was no team mentioned with it. Either one. As the articles explain, MLS is a distributing body for the talent received. Therefore, it looks like the league was simply looking to add talent, worry about teams later (which is FINE by me!).
My only hesitation to all this is – Boca Juniors is in the Santander Copa Libertadores. They are playing immense games, are under alot of pressure to win, and suddenly, a story like this appears? Regardless of the source, I would be afraid, as is usually the case in these tournaments, that a baseless rumor has made its way to the press to harm a particular team and their chances at advancement. Just saying . . .
Either way, following rumors of a pending Seattle offer to Thierry Henry, its an encouraging sign for our expanding league and its growing reputation (mostly good!) to receive press like this. To be tied to another world class player, and one that is still in his prime, can only speak well for the efforts of this leagues advancement.
For this Argie, Riquelme in MLS is a cream dream – no matter where he plays.
What do you think?
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Comments
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If MLS were able to secure a player such as Riquelme, it would be a major coup. Seriously. But the particularly large variable here is if Riquelme is willing to leave. Willing to leave the team he so loves so much (and actually loves him back) and probably the one place in the world where he can play how he likes and be rewarded by the fans, club directors and coaches for it, win or lose. Willing to leave a team he’s won countless cups with and has just raised heaven and earth to find the money to purchase his transfer from CF Villareal.
In my opinion, if Riquelme is going to play in the Americas I’m going to have to say that it will be in a Boca jersey. I have trouble thinking that he’ll be willing to leave and play the same opposition (somewhere else in South America) or leave to play in lesser tournaments (North America).
In Europe, however, I could see him playing at various clubs, I just don’t think most coaches are willing to pin their club’s hopes on one, sometimes unstable, man, since we know he MUST be the main focus of his team’s offense if he is expected to be effective.
One more variable, Boca. They might not be willing to let him go. It’s not like he’s at the end of his career and it’s not like the club hasn’t invested a ton of money into signing him. Boca are notorious for keeping players far longer than they should for the players development but long enough to demand really high transfer fees for them. Tevez, Palermo and Riquelme, arguably the club’s biggest heroes in recent years, left under poor terms with the directors because the club was so tough to deal with when it came to negotiating their transfers to other clubs.
So don’t look for Riquelme to leave anytime soon, I’ll bet he’s made a nice small fortune in Europe so the money won’t be a big draw and he won’t be leaving unless he’s unhappy and constantly picks fights with the club’s directors (this would go far into them allowing him to leave). I mean, honestly, who saw his resignation from the national team coming a few years ago?
Just some food for thought.
Posted from
United States
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+1 for Mauro’s thoughts. I have a question: How much is a he being paid at Boca Juniors? Here’s my point: if I’m getting paid solid bank, have entrenched myself in a town/country with a particular team, AND I have the organization and fans worshipping the very ground I walk on…it would take a serious amount of cash for me to even think about leaving that dream situation.
I almost wish MLS would pursue guys that were less known but have played some in bigger leagues.
Posted from
United States -
This rings all sorts of bullshit bells for me.
The league signing a player and than giving that player to a team- yes, that was league policy— in the nineties. Now clubs are in charge of their own scouting and the league rubber stamps contracts that fit the rules. Unless a team specifically requested that they sign him there is no pursuit, especially with a team on board for most of a DP salary. Would Robert Kraft look kindly on MLS doubling his operating budget for player that his coach didn’t ask for?
And the price number is inflated majorly. That is the number that Chicago balked at when Zidane required it to lure him out of retirement. And who would pay more than AEG (who then owned Chicago) in the current league for a player less famous than Zidane? (and arguably less famous in the US than Blanco, definitely than Beckham- both of which make less than the reported contract).
Deportes has gotten bit a number of times with bad stories and unless it is one of the sports writers that has a track record with MLS (Goff, Ives, Wahl, Bueno, Canales ect) a US english domestic story is probably lazy rumor spreading.
Posted from
United States -
I think one should never underestimate pictures showing people shedding one lone tear.
Posted from
United States -
I feel like Riquelme, though he would, I guess, lend some credibility to the league is the type of player who only really shines when he is surrounded by talent. If he does come to the MLS, I have a feeling he wouldn’t stick around long.
Posted from
Chile -
Hey all – I have two morning meetings and I miss all this?
#1 – The love he gets at Boca is amazing. Believe me – I see it and feel it first hand
#2 – No team at Europe will want him at his price tag mainly because he is a royal pain in the ass to deal with and the entire organization have to change to fit his style pf play or he will be unhappy. Period.
#3 – Money rules. And Argentinas government is in SUCH turmoil that coming to a safer country may be something to intice the man? Its possible
#4 – I feel, as I said, that this rumor may be baseless, but . . . .
#5 – This is what MLS did with Becks for years – send out feelers, play on rumors, all in an effort to entice the man. Maybe they are banking on Riq’s ego to be flattered enough at SOME point to join the squad.
Riquelme would be great. His game play is TREMENDOUS. I am all for it – if its true
Posted from
United States -
Hey Kevin, Looks like Riquelme makes about $310,000 a month, which makes him the richest guy in his neighborhood. But seriously, this allows he and his family to live quite comfortably in Argentina.
Here’s a link to the story:
http://www.minutouno.com/1/hoy/article/Juan-Román-Riquelme-es-el-argentino-con-el-sueldo-más-alto%5Eid_60226.htmWhich brings me to another interesting point. Since MLS player’s salaries have been released, I noticed that France’s player salaries were also released and I have also read and heard many Englishmen talk about players salaries. In England, it seems, salary is mentioned on a weekly basis, i.e. Rio Ferdinand makes £110,000 a week. In Argentina, salaries are reported on a monthly basis and in the USA the salaries are reported on a annual basis. I wonder why it’s perceived that way and if it’s cultural? BTW, The French copy us, or we copy them. Not sure.
Posted from
United States -
Now that I’m done having a heart attack, I must say that I hope this *doesn’t* go through. Why? Because I love Riquelme at Boca. It’s his niche. He rocks there. (He rocks anywhere, but still.) I wouldn’t want to see him anywhere else, unless he himself wants it so.
Posted from
United States -
No question – Boca needs him – or was i the only one pounding my head against the wall watching Atlas destroy us?! UUUUUGH!
Posted from
United States -
I know. I saw that right as soon as I got off this page, and thought, “ouch.” That pretty much summed it up for me. Boca is the reason I pay attention to Argentina’s football. Otherwise I’d only notice them in WCs (which is good, but you know).
Posted from
United States
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