Minnesota United ended up adding five players during the summer transfer window, but did the Loons’ roster improve for the final stretch of the year?
The pending loss of leading scorer Tani Oluwaseyi on a $8 million transfer to Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga is the main reason for pause. His exit will crimp what head coach Eric Ramsay will be able to do at forward to close out the MLS season.
But second-leading scorer Kelvin Yeboah — who has nine goals to Oluwaseyi’s 10 — remains with United, and that fact was where Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad went first when talking with reporters about the expected exit of Oluwaseyi on Tuesday.
“First and foremost, the leading striker has not left,” El-Ahmad said in reference to Yeboah.
El-Ahmad is tasked with trying to balance the short-term goal of winning a trophy at MNUFC this fall with the longer-term objective of keeping the club competitive for the long haul.
A club-record transfer fee for Oluwaseyi will help fund reinvestment into the club via maxing out its salary cap flexibility, future transfer fees to buy new players and improve infrastructure in Blaine — to name a few possible areas. Where installments of that money are ultimately directed will be decided by club ownership.
Of the five newcomers, three appear most capable of raising the level of play for the second-place Loons: attacking midfielder Dominik Fitz, defensive midfielder Nectarios Triantis and striker Mamadou Dieng.
The Loons paid an approximately $2.5 million transfer fee to Sunderland for Triantis, a $2.1 million fee to Austria Wien for Fitz and $250,000 to Hartford Athletic for Dieng. MNUFC also added midfielder Alexis Farina on a one-year loan from Cerro Porteno, with an option to buy. Minnesota also paid $750,000 to Alajuelense for winger Kenyal Michel and loaned him back to the Costa Rican club for the rest of this year.
Fitz fits the Loons’ summer objective of adding (a No. 10) creative playmaker; the 26-year-old will end up being either a Designated Player or a TAM (Targeted Allocation Money) signing.
“I like his creativity,” El-Ahmad said. “He’s peak-age player, and he contributes offensively. I’m aware of the Austrian market.(It’s) a good transition from that league to this league. I signed Ismael Tajouri (-Shardi) back when I was at NYCFC from Austria Vienna. I know the club as well. … It was a good fit into what we want to do.”
The deal for Triantis came together just before Thursday’s deadline, and the 6-foot-3 player will help add to (a No. 6) defensive midfielder spot. He is an Under-22 Initiative signing.
“Calm on the ball, has a physical stature that we want to add to our team, good on set pieces, both defensively, offensively, deceivably good technique,” El-Ahmad said. “he can break lines” with his passing.
Dieng, who has 20 goals in USL Championship over the last two seasons, began training with MNUFC in Blaine this week and will be the first candidate to contribute on the field. Oluwaseyi, meanwhile, is in Nigeria working on his work visa for Spain and has likely played his last match for the Loons. .
And the Loons’ three other new signings are currently working their visas and are doubtful for Saturday’s game against Portland. That will be the eighth total game where new additions could have been on the field after the transfer window opened.
Two weeks ago, Ramsay expressed frustration that new additions had not yet hit his roster.
“We could have been more picky this year,” El-Ahmad said about why deals weren’t done until the final week of the summer window. “We’ve raised the level (of the roster) significantly, so just trying to get players early isn’t the main plan here. The plan here is to get the right player in.
“Would we all want the players to be here (when the window opened) July 24? 100%. It’s not like we plan and wait to get them in the last day of the window. But there’s context.”
For one, selling teams are playing in European competitions, and club decisions to keep or move on from players is sometimes based on those results and the revenue that comes from playing in UEFA Champions League, for instance.
“You can’t control those,” El-Ahmad said. “We stayed kind of patient, so we ended up getting the players that we looked at already back in June. We had conversation with (some) and then some players fall off. Then we made sure that we were ready with the next option. It’s not by design. I don’t sit and wait to the last (moments of the) window.”
Last year, Yeboah was added in July and Joaquin Pereyra came late in August. Pereyra had only one assist in MLS last fall, but four goals and six primary assists this season.
That led to Turkish club Trabzonspor putting in a $8 million bid for Pereyra, but MNUFC turned it down.
“The offers we received from various players has been very, very big,” El-Ahmad said. “And I think it’s important for me to then also say it on the record: It shows the testament of the owners, being patient, supporting. … Saying no to a player is as important as potentially spending money on the player. … When you asked me earlier, What do I think of the summer transfer window? I’m excited. I think we’re in a good place.”
Briefly
MNUFC pursued intra-league deals this window, but nothing came together like the move for Anthony Markanich last August. … The club is leaning toward the two-DP and four-U22 roster-building model. … Dieng played for Hartford in the U.S. Open Cup, so he is “cup-tied” and ineligible to play for Minnesota in the Open Cup semifinal vs. Portland on Sept. 17. … Morris Duggan received his green card and Hoyeon Jung’s season-ending injury freed up two international roster spots for new players. … Rookie forward Luke Hille tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a MNUFC2 match on Aug. 15. He’s expected to have surgery this week.
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