Arsenal have been warned off any attempts to try and take DC United midfielder Andy Najar on trial. President Kevin Payne has threatened legal action against the Gunners if any officials make contact without his say so.
Najar was poised to arrive in North London for a three week training period, according to the players personal coach in his home land of Honduras. He told the local media a deal was in place, but when quizzed by Steven Goff of the Washington Post, United’s Present Payne reacted furiously to the news;
“They can talk to him if they would like to get sued. But I don’t think it will come to that. We have no intention to have Andy Najar come to Arsenal for a trial. He’s under contract and if anybody tries to talk to him, we are prepared to file a lawsuit. This is America. It’s American contract law that applies here. Local law prevails.”
Payne has been ridiculed among DCU fans for his public relations attitude but will no doubt have won favour with his defensive stance on the potential trial. Najar is regarded as one of the most promising players in the MLS and has been the shining light in a woeful season.
Andy has a personal coach in his native Honduras with whom he meets on a regular basis. Ismael Reyes has been a close advisor to the player and he announced the trial had been agreed with him in an interview with Diez.hn. The saga looks set to rumble on.
I love the way americans say ‘This is America’. Like that f**kn means something!
Haha. Its like a line from a movie.
haha, i’m not sure about a movie, but it is a line from south park, a television show.
whilst watching little league baseball, randy proceeds to beat the shit out of all opposing parents, then when the cops come and he is completely hammered he recite, “this is america, i thought this was america”
a rip-roaring watch i must say
“This is SPARTAAAAA”
Ron, if I could “like” your comment facebook style, I would.
You guys are morons. He was saying local laws apply when a contract is signed in America. British people with there little hatred for america need to grow up.
Haha. Americans and their need to sue people. LOL!
You should wish European leagues were as litigious. “Tampering” is strictly prohibited in all the U.S. pro leagues and offenders are punished. Owners have been banned for a year, their teams have lost draft picks and dirty player deals have been undone. Even reporters are subject to investigation if they report on a team’s interest on a player under contract.
Compare this to the Cesc mess. You want me to believe you prefer the status quo there?
@Rafael Vela – That’s completely fine and I would respect that if he wasn’t a complete douchebag. Why couldn’t he just say, “Things work differently here in America. If a player is under-contract, he is not permitted to talk to other clubs. We will not be talking with Arsenal any further.” I guess he chose the ‘prick’ route.
We should stear clear of this!! :S
just trying to deflect media attention away from their woeful season to this non existent trial saga
Why cannot the gunners do to same to barca?
fuck America, they act like they rule the world. Look how they are behaving about BP, they make out like British people went over and spilled oil on purpose-accidents happen!
Exxon Mobile leaked more oil into the sea then BP, but no-one talks about that because they are a good American company.
The branch of BP in the Gulf has no affiliation with Great Britain, besides the name. They are as English as French Fries are French. All employees of that company (in that branch, of course) are American and they all abide by American laws so forcing the blame on England is absurd. Anyway, this is about football, not our world’s corrupt politics.
You realize that you are doing the same thing by taking what one person said, and projecting it on an entire country. I agree with you, but you took the prick route just like the DC guy did.
Without going into all that’s wrong with your comment, as an Arsenal fan i’m embarrassed…
The BP disaster will be the worst in history, numpty. Anyway, Kevin Payne is a numpty as well. You should go work for him, you would get along famously!
Goons_with_Guns u r an idiot. in the 80’s an american company’s oil rig went up in flames in the north sea and 150 people died in comparison to the 15 died in the gulf disaster.
“This is America. It’s American contract law that applies here. Local law prevails.”
That quote is absolutely disgusting. No wonder they are so hated outside of their ‘lovely’ border. I hope Najar shows some sense and puts in a request to travel to London. That should wipe the smug looks off of their faces.
Rohan, you don’t know how the question was asked to him. And for the record the USA acadmeies suck so when one maybe gem comes out they are going to protect him and be paranoid so when a question like that comes out of nowhere especially with a situation they never ever deal with you’re going to have people acting out a bit.
Can the US Academies but foolish enough to believe they will keep on to a player of this caliber?
yeah, a good point!
maybe Cesc should show some sense and put in a request to travel to barcelona. that should wipe the smug looks off your faces.
moan moan moan – barca are tapping up horrors
yes yes yes – we’re tapping up Najar
if we don’t want barca doing it, arsenal shouldn’t be doing it either.
Exxon spill came from a boat lol (in Alaska) not from a drilling rig lol (that effected job,hotels ,beaches full of oil stretching to 3 states mate). You sir might support the Arsenal but think like a spud with that logic
Before you lot go criticizing him have a think, we didn’t like it when Barca kept doing it to us with Cesc right?
We’d do well to respect their stance. Don’t want to sink down to the levels of those catalan cuntbags.
Yeah but there’s a difference – Barcelona has been very very public, whereas hardly any Arsenal fans (much less international non-Gooner followers of football) know of Najar. It’s hardly as though the papers are all talking about it all the time, or as though the player is being forced to comment on his future every other day. I see your point, but it doesn’t completely translate perfectly.
To be fair, if Arsenal where in America they would have taken Barcalona to the cleaners for the blatent public tapping up of Fabregas in the papers and on TV by Xavi, Iniest, Messi and the hirearchy at the Cataln Hell Hole. At least in America something would be done but FIFA and EUFA seem to have a hard on for Barcalona and they can do no wrong.
PS I am not a fan of America or Americans as rule
I have only seen one Youtube clip of this guy so I wont comment on his quality. However, I think if a European club, esp one as big a us, wanted a young player from outside other european big clubs then they will get him. It is too common nowadays to hear about a young player having a trail or signing for one of the bigger european clubs. If we apporach this guy through the club and he impresses on trail and wenger wants him, then wenger will get him. They will be powerless to stop a transfer. The players will not settle for playing in a substandard league especially one like the MLS when a big club comes calling.
The issue is you don’t go through DC for the deal, you have to go through DC and MLS.
He may have said it like a douche bag but it’s true. How sports are done in europe is shady and would be criminal in the states, and they won’t roll over and sell their players because Man United or someone come knocking.
I do believe that the kid will have his head turned and he’ll leave. DC need to play this smart if they want to keep it.
if I’m not mistaken, MLS controls all player transfers so DC United only have a partial say in the matter. also, it would be very uncharacteristic of a young player in the US with so little experience to demand a transfer, like players do in other countries. can you imagine the backlash if, say, Jason Heyward demanded to be traded to the Yankees, or Kevin Durant demanded to be traded to the Heat or something like that?
The amount of anti American sentiment is a bit disturbing. Don’t be so pretentious as to think people like the English outside of England either. It was definitely a quote made in haste, but you still have to respect the position of DC United. Lots of gooners sound like the biggest bunch of hypocrites when they lambaste Barcelona for treating Arsenal like a “small” club. While they are happy to hear stories of Arsenal doing the same to other “small” clubs. I support Arsenal and live in DC. Andy is a great player with a lot of potential. But, Arsenal still has to go through the proper channels to sign him. Respect is earned.
Probably the most even-headed comment so far. Agreed.
As a fellow Washingtonian and Arsenal fan, I couldn’t agree more with Pablo here. Pot, kettle, black. If we want to act self-righteous about the Cesc saga, we have to be vigilant in avoiding hypocrisy. It’s a different situation, sure, but you can already see by some of the condescending comments about how much the MLS sucks etc. that no level of respect is being given to DC United. I’m thankful there are people with class on the Arsenal board and not you lot.
Never seen Najar play, because I don’t follow MLS. But if he’s a good player, the club is understandably going to be overly protective. It’s sad that some of you gunners turn an isolated quote into fuel for a hate campaign against americans.
I love how everyone here is bashing america…I just want to let everyone know that as an American I can say this man is a jackass but don’t group me with him. Not all Americans are jackasses like that man
arse&nose read this: http://www.gulfoilspilllitigationgroup.com/blog/bp-oil-spill-bigger-than-exxon-valdez-disaster-and-worst-in-u-s-history/
I am not an American but I dont get all the agression towards there stance ?
If we had a good young player under contract and his agent talked about him going on trial to a club in the USA I think we might be a bit peeved as well !!
Too right. But his problem should be with the player’s agent not Arsenal.
There is a difference between being angry and a self-righteous prick.
Pingback: Tweets that mention DC United Threaten Legal Action Over Najar Trial | Young Guns - Arsenal Reserves & Youth News -- Topsy.com
America F**K Yeah
World Police
Anyone selling tickets for AC milan vs Arsenal?
I don’t see arsenal going behind a clubs back and negotiating with the american kids agent
that interview is not directed towards arsenal more towards the fact that if a club does try and setup a trial without a clubs approval then what DC United will do next
Arsenal as far as I know have never gone behind a clubs back and “tapped up” a player like our neighbors do on a regular basis
DC United are legally allowed to sue us or any another club if they do such a under hand thing and after this barca saga I hope we had the same rule so atleast I will be able to shut the barca idiots up
and please dont bring countries into this its should be about football not countries
Cesc springs to mind here, talk to the club first, dont just bundle in and destabilise players, we more than anyone should understand that
I’m sorry but I guess Americans are just straight to the point. Wouldn’t you wish we cld hire this guy and have him say the same to Barca. No room for Indecency…
Can people please chill out stop the America bashing? I don’t see why the guy is being villainized. The freddy adu debacle has probably made DCU a little wary of the euro clubs and he has every right to be defensive over the status of a contracted player. I think the “this is america” comment had more to do with the fact that our leagues’ structures and contracts are different than in Europe and that must be taken into account by clubs who want to take an emerging talent like Andy from a league that is aggressively trying to improve the quality of rosters and on-the-field play.
This is a fairly complex issue. First, is Najar’s MLS contract professional or developmental? If he’s signed to a pro-level contract, I would think the idea of a trial would be out of the question. Second, Ives Galarcep, who does a pretty darn good job covering MLS, had a story last week that Najar or his agent had been talking about the Arsenal trial, so I’m assuming someone’s mouth started running while we were talking with his agent and before DCU had been contacted. So yes, I understand why the guy was peeved to have a washington post writer ask about why one of his professionals was talking about going to train with the youth teams in North London.
The kid has a future for sure, I just hope for his sake he doesn’t become the next freddy adu or jozy altidore and stays a little longer before making the jump across the pond. Look at them compared to Clint Dempsey or Tim Howard. I wonder if Danny Karbasayoon (or however you spell it) is involved in any of this?
I’m american, my parents are both londoners, and we don’t get into screaming arguments about which country is better at the dinner table. The fans at the emirates and highbury have always been very friendly to me and my friends, but some of these comments are just ridiculous. I pay attention to sports so much because it beats the hell out of politics, so can we just keep things here focused on footy? Thanks!
It’s easy to be anti-american, but at least we know how to protect our players and league. You see how our teams react when a team is only trying to take a Youth player on trial for a few weeks without our permission. Yet when a club like Barcelona is talking constantly about our best player nothing is done. Nothing good comes out of a team trying to unsettle a player, so you can criticize the American way of doing it, but if FIFA and UEFA had the same laws it would be a much cleaner sport.
Why are ppl getting so upset who cares.
I dont care about the player we got guys like wilshere, wellington silva, its not like we are short of playmakers
Heard an interesting one today, Cesc is prepared to buy out his contract at a cost of £28.6m. He will basically hand in a transfer request and give Arsenal 4 weeks to agree a deal with Barca. If not he will buy out his contract. We now know why Barcelona offered £29m.
Apparantly this is a rule that came out recently after another player was refused a transfer, i hope someone can verify this? Sorry if this has aleady been in the news today, i have been out all day and not heard the radio or seen the TV or papers.
I really hate to say this but i am standing by my belief that Cesc will be gone by Sept 1st.
I think you’re referring to the webster ruling. Well apart from the fact that all the big clubs across europe agreed to never use this rule to carry out a transfer, I don’t think it applies here.
I believe the rule is that a player over 25 years of age who signed his last contract more than 3 years ago can buy it out. (Hleb could have done this)
Fabregas is not 25 and signed his last contract a year ago. So I don’t think there’s any danger of losing him through this ruling.
The comment by DarkTheory was top class, enjoyed the discussion. I luv the fact that we as arsenal fans can discuss issues like this and broaden it to global politics, brilliant – could’nt imagine the followers and fans of any other premier club (could you imagine the likes of spuds or stoke fans or even manure fans raising issues with a hint of wit and irony on their one or two shite blog sites?). No neither can I. Top site keep it up fellas. Up The Arsenal.
come on lads lets not generalize and im happy there are arsenal fans on here from the states, hope someone from there can tell me if arsenal have a decent support in america and which area has the most arsenal fans and personally i loved it when this guy said this is america. Hire him if hes a lunatic the better maybe if he was at arsenal he would respond to barca by saying ‘this is arsenal its our way or the highway’
Usman, there are large groups of us in most major cities, largest probably with my group in New York (NYC Arsenal Supporters) and the boys in Baltimore (Charm City Gooners). If you ever find yourself in NYC during the season and want to catch a match, you’re welcome to come sing and drink with us. Look us up on Facebook.
Also, Arsenal America lists where the major Arsenal supporters watch matches as well, if you’re interested.
@usman. Just to respond off of rockofgilberto, i’m going to represent for the bay area gooners (bayareagooners.com/). We’re fairly big and pretty active. I’ve seen the NY crew, they are probably the biggest, but I think we’re #2 -bigger than Baltimore. We meet at a pub and watch matches, often at 7AM because of the time difference. Drinking at dawn!
It’s unfortunate that many Arsenal fans in England don’t know how big the American contingent actually. Every time I meet a Gunner from England visiting I always bring them along to the pub and show the English fans what’s here. They’re always surprised and happy. If you’re ever here come join us! Btw, I agree with everything said below about manu, ronaldo, bandwagon fans…blah blah. American Arsenal fans tend to be diehard.
Usually I like the global, cultured and urbane manner Arsenal fans represent, many of the posts on here notwithstanding. Am sad to see so much hatred for America from our transatlantic cousins given our shared history in blood. Memories, I suppose are short.
Unlike the other big clubs, Arsenal rarely ventures stateside. This causes them to lose a foothold that the other clubs have. Chelsea, United, Liverpool, Barca, and Real have all come stateside often over the past decade.
Usman, I agree, lets hire the bloke, I’m sure Gazidis knows all about him. I also agree with your point to about US arsenal fans (and all US soccer fans), I have nothing but respect for them (on the whole) and always find them far more knowledgable (generally) and committed than the average english fan (whatever that is if you know what I mean). And to all you US Gooners out there, there is no doubt in my mind that the Arsenal are the most US like of clubs in terms of the way they are run, its morals, its ethos as well as its many links to the states obviously (Kronke and Colorado, Gazidis and a number of his staff, David Soul, Spike Lee, Kevin Costner, numerous basketball players, Steve Morrow! thousands of US followers and hopefully most of New York Red Bulls’ fans now etc). These factors and others always amuse me in light of the repeated attempts by Chelski (to invade America as it were) followed now by the Spuds and Man Shitty to widen their brand, where as Arsenal have a much more realistic approach and realise that Soccer is a minority sport (in terms of supporting etc) in the US ( hence my respect for US Soccer fans in light of the big three US sports) and build steadily and see it as a long term project ,which in turn, in my view makes their approach unpatronising and non-condecsending to US Soccer fans and clubs, totally unlike ManUre whose major desire is to fleece half the world from China to Washington (The MacDonalds of Football I call them – probably why they do well in the states! only joking). I would be interested if any US arsenal in particular or any arsenal fans agree with these points and can shed any light on how the Arsenal are viewed in the US as opposed to ManUre, Chelski and lately Man Shitty and The Spuds.
As an American who regularly comments on here and is a die-hard Arsenal supporter I must say I’m very dissapoitned in how smart some people are with the Gunners and how unbelievably stupid they are with comments like these. You don’t base an entire country on one corporate d-bag whose JOB is to be the President of DCU. His job is to make money and build a quality squad. When there is a chance he could lose Andy that threatens not just DCU’s performance and future, but his job. Laws are different in America than across the pond and that is just how it is. Could he have answered the question differently, yes, obviously, but all he is trying to do is tell us to back off. We happen to be doing the exact same thing with Fabregas right now. While a trial of a kid and transfer saga of a major star are 2 different things, it is essentially the same concept. I read this blog everyday, not only for J’s world class reporting but for the high quality of the comments as well. Thankfully most of the people making bone-headed comments are not the regulars who comment on here, but all in all keep the comments Arsenal-related and not on base-less stereotypes about Americans. A lot of us happen to be loyal-readers of this blog and Arsenal fans in general.
Wow… i don’t know how BP and random hatred of Americans in general came to be part of the argument. I’m an American and have been a fulltime Arsenal supporter for 13 years, and spend a large chunk of my own personal income to fly transatlantic to attend matches every season, and there are many more here besides me who do the same. I have loads of English gooner mates that I’ve met down the years through Arsenal and formed great friendships with, and we banter a bit, which is fine. But there seem to be an awful lot of you painting us all with an awfully broad brush, which is just shameful.
Shame for the kid; it’s unlikely Arsenal will come back if his club say no. Americans should be encouraging players to play in Europe if only for the national team to improve IMO. But then the MLS would decline in quality…
You’re absolutely right. As Americans we all want to go see our best compete in the top leagues. I know I loved watching Fulham a few years back when me and my buddies dubbed them “Team America” since they had 4 or so in the squad. It was a huge deal seeing Donovan finally get his opportunity w/ Everton last season. Only thing is the MLS and Americans are very different as the MLS is desperately trying to grow and become profitable. By selling the top talent to Europe that kills its value ya know? Unfortunately that brings us back to the reality football is a business (too bad Barca didnt figure that one out, HA!)
Are Arsenal big in America?
Like how do we rank alongside Mna Utd, chelsea, Celtic, Liverpool?
Arsenal dont really do tours to the US or asia.
Man Utd are by far the biggest. The American ownership along with big names such as Cristiano (most Americans are fake United fans and think he still plays for them) and Rooney. Chelsea is the next biggest followed by Arsenal and Liverpool who are about equal. The Arsenal fans seem to be by far the most legitimate (thats non-biased I promise) given their lack of a huge name (Rooney with Man U, Drogba with Chelsea, Gerrard with Liverpool). Fabregas simply isn’t put on the same level largely b/c he isn’t big on the international stage like the other 3. Hope that answers your question.
Thanks dude.
Chelsea are the 2nd biggest. I cant believe that thats got to be a joke i really hope arsenal go on tour to the US,
I think we could attract more fans with our style of football.
below is Wellington update and quote
http://www.tribalfootball.com/fluminense-starlet-wellington-excited-joining-arsenal-preseason-1009261
I agree with bc that Cesc is likely to go, which is why I’ve hoping all summer that Barca would make a good offer. I remember reading about the rule that players in some circumstances could now buy out their contracts. Does anyone know of a player who has done it, or whether there would be grounds for Arsenal to legally challenge the rule? I doubt if Cesc would otherwise put in a transfer request because, if he does, we’d be entitled to sell him to the highest bidder, which would most likely be City not Barca – as the unfortunate Ade discovered when none of the clubs he’d been angling to go to decided they wanted him.
@ BC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A69403935
Look at this artickle. Cesc cannot buy himself out of this contract. Its waterproof.
Oil spill or not that has nothing to do with football point is that guy acted like a douche
seriously what is up with that “This is America” shit…… could of just said we have different
laws here. It’s stupid to say such things it is reasons like that why american’s aren’t liked much.
Anyways I hope he leaves to London i’m sure his future there would be much better
That’s reassuring as, even if there is a loophole undiscovered by that article (which there may not be), the whole thing sounds like a minefield and no one (not his agent and not anyone at Barca) would advise Cesc to risk it. So the only thing he could do is put in a formal transfer request and, as I said above, I don’t think he’ll do that, whatever the rumours that he’s going to. It doesn’t solve the problem of his head and heart already being at Barca, however, which is why I wish they could afford to pay what’s worth. Presumably he’s back in London now?
On Najar, if he’s really good, I don’t suppose we’re the only club who’ve been scouting him. In which case, he’ll surely know he’s in demand and will put in a transfer request pretty soon anyway? Not much of a risk for him if there’s high chance some big club in Europe will snap him up?
I don’t believe that MLS contracts have any notion of a transfer request as it exists in the English leagues. A player has a contract with the league. He can ask to be released but the league is under no obligation to do so. A suitor has to take no for an answer if the league doesn’t find the offer satisfactory. What’s more likely is the coach in Honduras looking for some leverage and maybe an economic stake as he has none now.
re: the anti-US comments, small people have small ideas. Why advertise?
How good is this guy Najar?? Is he a bigger prospect than some of the players we already have at Arsenal?? As for Cesc, I think Wilshere, Nasri and Ramsey will be as good if not beter than Cesc was. Im not worried at all. If he stays I just hope that he puts forth his best effort to see us win a trophy in the coming year.
One thing to note is that Najar’s family are immigrants in the US seeking citizenship. Andy is their best bet of staying in the country legally, with DCU and possibly the USSF helping them out. I suspect that Andy will stay long enough to make sure his family gets their green cards.
Also, he is still choosing whether to play for Honduras or the US, and he is still a year or two away from citizenship. He’s only seventeen, and he’s already the face of the franchise. I suspect DCU is doing everything they can (including on the immigration law front) to keep him.
Finally, DCU is in real bad shape because they can’t get a new stadium and their are serious ownership issues. Najar is the lone bright spot on a franchise that could collapse. They need a guy like him to market to new investors and the surrounding areas (arlington, etc.) as they attempt to get a stadium deal.
wait WTF?
how can you threaten legal action against fake news that was confirmed Arsenal did not even want him.
Threaten ur agent..
and I thought United were doing bad lately, pls..just because USC were in news cus of Bush does not mean you should switch news.
well done but DC United. THIS is what arsenal should do to barca…
I am English but live in America (Colorado – about an hour away from where Colorado Rapids play). Americans can come off as arrogant (and some can be very rude about England) and I will admit that they have pissed me off in the past, but they can be some of the nicest people you will ever meet.
This DCU guy made one comment that he would have probably worded differently if he had been known what the question was before he was asked.
The small amount of AFC fans who have been rude about the US or DCU need to chill out – this is about football not politics.
If Arsenal is disliked by anyone it may have something to do with us fans making judgmental, and rude comments about other clubs and other countries.
I agree that the DCU President made a slightly foolish comment, but I wouldn’t get worked up about it. Arsenal and Arsene have built up a reputation for signing youngsters legally, giving the club a good price for the player, and not tapping the youngster up as well so we have nothing to worry about, and shouldn’t really be giving too much attention to his comment anyway.
Are there not far more important things that we could be debating about, or thinking about, or acting upon then one mans rash comment regarding a 17 year old youngster who might not be moving here for a few years, or might not be moving here at all?
Anyway, thanks J for keeping us posted :)
I’d like to address a couple of different points that have come up here.
Kevin Payne’s comments may have struck a raw nerve with some people, but the fact remains that, whether you like his bluntness or not, he was essentially stating a critical fact: US law and how it applies to contracts–in this case specifically to contract structure in the MLS–is very different than the law in Britain or the EU as applied to the contracts of footballers. For example, an American football team is currently bringing suit against a university for hiring away one of its assistant coaches (to a higher and better paid position), even though the head coach of the university told the head coach of the pro team that he wanted to talk with the assistant about the opening, because the university did not get the permission of the pro team to actually hire the assistant. The point being that permission to talk with the assistant about the position was not permission to hire him or a releasing him from his contract with the pro team.
As has been stated previously, rules against tampering (“tapping up”) are very strict in certain cases and strictly enforced by the courts with financial and legal sanctions. Only recently the issue of tampering was raised in the NBA with regard to free agents–players without contracts–talking with and possibly recruiting others to get them to play together with one another. While it was decided that the league could do nothing to prevent players from talking to one another privately or to prevent players without contracts from deciding to all play together for the same team, the league would have a legal basis to punish any team if one of its players (in this case, a star) talked in the press about having a player (also a star) from another team come to that team to play with him–even after his contract with his team had expired. To avoid punishment, the team immediately denied any involvement, pointing out that they had just signed the player who made the statements, and the player has not been heard from publicly since.
Now, compare this to standard operating procedure in the footballing world not just in Europe, but pretty much the rest of the world. Having had to deal with Barca and its players shamelessly “tapping up” Cesc all summer, I don’t need to explain to Gunner fans just how different things are. Whatever you think about the US, you can’t deny that Payne was emphatically speaking the truth in pointing out that the laws and their application in this situation are very different.
As to the issue of Najar or his agent/coach wanting to move on to a situation that would be better for Andy as a player, there are a couple of things, that have previously been pointed out, to keep in mind. First, the transfer system in place elsewhere does not exist: you sign a contract, you are bound by the contract unless released from it or it is sold. Second, the MLS owns all of the contracts. Third, MLS was founded as a league to give players from North and Central America a place to develop other than in the Mexican league, which was very restricted for foreigners at the time, and the lower quality local leagues in the rest of the CONCACAF countries. The restrictions on “foreign” players from outside of CONCACAF and on salaries were designed to prevent a repeat of what happened with the NASL and keep the league within certain limits. The idea was not to prevent top level talents that developed in the league from moving to clubs outside of CONCACAF–it was assumed that the better players would ultimately move on and that MLS would help to fund the developmental nature of the league from selling players’ contracts on to bigger clubs. By controlling this process, however, MLS looked to not only protect its own interests, but that of the players it developed.
The history of players who have moved on to bigger clubs from MLS at young ages has not been terribly good. Landon Donovan, DeMarcus Beasley, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, etc. all bounced around on loan and had difficult times getting playing time after initially leaving MLS. While Andy Najar has had a good start in MLS, the fact remains that he is still a young, developing player who could easily get “lost” at a club like Arsenal where there is so much competition for playing time even in the academy and Reserves. That would not serve MLS or Andy Najar very well and I can easily see MLS concluding that this might not be the right time or situation for them to allow him to even take a trial at a big club–even one that has done as well by its young players as Arsenal.
And, as has been pointed out, DC United has a lot of reasons right now not to want to see Najar move anywhere else. This club that for many years was probably the most popular and successful in MLS has fallen on hard times and Najar is its one bright light. Payne doesn’t want to see him go and doesn’t want there to be even so much of a suggestion that he may move on to ruin whatever little remainining market appeal his club has. So, he’s going ot be adamant about not wanting Najar to have a trial with Arsenal (although the final decision is out of his hands and in the hands of MLS hierarchy).
The fact that Najar and/or his personal coach/agent are talking about a trial with Arsenal does indicate that someone from Arsenal must have talked with at least the coach/agent. Depending on the type of contract that Najar has with MLS, this could very well be considered to constitute tampering, especially if permission to talk with the agent or player was not obtained from MLS beforehand. DC United, having been assigned the player, may well have the right, under the contract, to prevent the player from even working out for another team’s representatives (many US athletes have clauses in their contracts that prevent them from doing things such as riding motorcycles, playing other sports, etc. in their spare time, etc.). In which case, without having sought and been granted the proper permissions (from MLS and/or DCU), Najar would be in violation of his contract. And, here’s the thing, under US law, ANY parties to that violation may be held liable (which would include Arsenal, which, as the richest of the parties, could be stuck paying the bill!).
Now, if Arsenal is really interested in giving Andy Najar a trial, I’m sure that it could probably be arranged. But, Arsenal would have to go through the proper channels, first with the league and then with his club. As for the terms and conditions, that would probably depend on the individual case. The same would probably be true if Arsenal were interested in actually giving Andy Najar a contract–which would have to be negotiated.
Given the fact that MLS has close ties to US Soccer and that Najar has yet to decide whether to play for the US or Honduras, I could see MLS being reluctant to let him leave to play in Europe, where the view of the US game is not very flattering, until he has made his final decision. Having lost out on the services of Nevin Subotic and Guisseppi Rossi, I can see the USSF being very keen to have MLS help to sway Najar into playing for the US. So, I can’t see MLS taking things so far as to insult Najar or his family, etc., but I can see them using his contractural status to try to “protect” their interests and those of USSF as much as they possibly can. From their perspective, they’re not in business to help the Arsenal football club (or any other outside of MLS) or even the player (who they probably feel will become better and, thus, worth more in a year or two).
As an Arsenal fan, I could wish that MLS would let Andy Najar have a trial with Arsenal and that he would end up becoming a star player for the Gunners. But, I also have to be realistic in assessing Payne’s response and the likely reasons for it. And, I would urge fellow Arsenal fans to look past whatever prejudices they may have to try to at least see those reasons as well.
AmericanGunnerFan, good post. I think you got all the words, not just the last one.
As I wrote earlier, the “personal coach” in Honduras likely has no business relationship with Najar, but would like to. As such, the “coach” can contact Najar, and Arsenal, and talk about it to the press, long, loud, and often. Arsenal may have done no more than tell the “coach” that sure, they’d be interested in looking Najar over, assuming the “coach” had the authority to arrange it. At that point it’s all just free speech.
It becomes interference when someone goes beyond talk, i.e. Najar shows up in London or anywhere else looking for a game without explicit permission from MLS. At that point an MLS lawyer makes a call and someone apologizes or agrees to make MLS a satisfyingly large offer.
A final complication is citizenship. A 17 year-old in the US is a minor and cannot sign a binding contract without a legal guardian. In the UK I believe that age is 16. Najar may be old enough to be a professional in Honduras but not in the US and the “coach” is trying to make an end run around the MLS contract. The problem is that even if it were possible, a US court would find Arsenal liable for interference if they tried to sign Najar and they’d end up paying D.C. United anyway.
Net, Najar will only trial at Arsenal if MLS and D.C. United are happy with the arrangement. And I suppose if you weren’t dead bored before, you are now. Sorry.
As regards being an American soccer fan (I use the word “soccer” to distinguish the game from American football, which is a game that I played and still follow as well), I have to say that I’m grateful to see that some Arsenal fans elsewhere appreciate how difficult for an American to love this game and be a fan–because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told that I can’t possibly know anything about “footy” simply because I’m an American.
While it’s true that I didn’t grow up playing the sport (50 years ago very few American schools had soccer teams), thanks to my German wife and one of her bosses (also German) I was introduce to the game shortly before Pele came to the US and brought it to everyone’s attention. It isn’t the first professional sport (American football) or even the fourth sport (hockey). We sometimes don’t even get 30 seconds of highlights on the local news program or a small article in the newspaper when the Red Bulls play. For years, my local cable TV system didn’t carry a single channel in English that regularly carried soccer games–only the Mexican league was carried regularly on Spanish language channels. I nearly all of the games of four World Cup finals on Spanish TV because only a couple of the games were carried on the main networks.
It’s hard to learn the nuances of a game and become a fan under those circumstances. It takes love of the game and dedication. But, I’m by no means the only American who has dealt with that and become a fan. There are quite a few of us. And, with a lot more American kids getting exposed to the game at a young age over the last 20 years, there are going to be a lot more of us in the future.
As an Arsenal fan, I have to say that I am extremely disappointed in the marketing of the club in the US. I’m hoping that bringing Thierry Henry to the NY Red Bulls will help make the Arsenal name more recognizable in the US, but IMHO the club has a long way to go. Until recently, it seemed to me that the only English clubs that American TV announcers knew were ManU and Liverpool. (I became an Arsenal fan, in part, because I HATED the way that they fawned all over those two clubs.) With the advent of FoxSoccer Channel on cable and ESPN’s coverage of the Champion’s League, it became a lot easier to watch a club other than those two more regularly, but FoxSoccer Channel wasn’t available on all cable systems during much of Arsenal’s ascendancy and ESPN would rather televise a Barca or Real Madrid game than an Arsenal match live in the CL. Those two networks have only grudgingly given more airtime to Chelsea and Arsenal (and Fox moreso than ESPN) over the last decade and, with Chelsea being the more successful the last five years, they have gotten more positive attention of late (although I must say that I was able to see most Arsenal games on cable TV last year–the computer took care of the rest).
Unless and until Arsenal makes some kind of marketing push in the US, I’m afraid that the club will never come close to having the support here that ManU, Liverpool and Chelsea have and could even fall behind the likes of ManCity (which just got some great press for building a rooftop soccer field atop a Harlem grammar school, which it says is the beginning of a program to make soccer more available in US inner cities) and Tottenham. UGH!!! I understand the reasons why A.Wenger doesn’t want to come to the US on a preseason tour, but, if that’s not going to happen, the club really needs to get more attention in the US. I think that Americans will find the style that Arsenal plays attractive, but they have to be able to see it and hear it spoken about positively if they are to be turned into fans of the club.
Of course, that’s just my opinion and my experience. Others may see things differently.
AmericanGunnerFan
Wenger seems to be focusing on marketing in Vietnam and Thailand, which is where I am until September, hence our partnerships with BEC Tero Sasana and Hoang Ahn Gia Lai. He might be focusing in those places instead of the USA because lots of PL teams are already putting their focus on the North American continent. (I would have thought China would have made a good choice, but nobody seems to be attempting any marketing ventures over there after Man U’s Dong signature backfired a bit on them).
Arsenal do have a partnership with the Rapids though. And (living in Colorado Springs) I have seen them make efforts to promote themselves stateside (though they could be trying harder).
Me to just like in the moves when they get pinched in Puru or Mexico and they sing out but i,m an a American id say well ain,t u the dope i was just going to sentence u like everyone else now i know u flew in to rob us ill give u double
This is a little off, but look at the facts before you get anti-american. The BP leak is the worst oil spill in U.S. history, that includes the Exxon Valdez (300-500k barrels), it is about 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day, till it was recently plugged. Now, who knows. Anyways, if this kid is under MLS they are going to have to buy him from the league. It can cost a pretty penny to pry talent; look at the cost for Maurice Edu to get to Rangers from the MLS, around £2.6 million in 08.
CAN SOMEONE TELL ME ANY NEWS ABOUT ARSENAL SIGNING ANY GOALKEEPER?
I suppose the real question is is this guy any good?
He’ll probably turn out to be another Freddy Adu (also DC United?) who all the big clubs were supposed to be after but who ended up in Portugal and being loaded out around minor European teams.
I think his comments were more an attempt to warn potential suitors off than a direct dig at Arsenal. Gazidis who handles all of our transfers, was one of the founding members of the MLS and is a lawyer by profession, so I find it very hard to believe that we would be foolish enough to make an illegal approach for an MLS player.
This will play out one of two ways:
Either it is all talk on his agent/personal coaches part
or
Gazidis knows something about the contract that the DCU chairman doesnt, and as such didnt need permission from the DCU chairman to offer the kid a trial.
Well it’s a good thing it happened in Honduras then
Wait, so the guy doesn’t even know if Arsenal contacted him?
He heard it from a reporter and just flew off the handle?
What an idiot. And I’m sure Ivan Gazidis doesn’t know anything about American contract law.
Wenger has indicated that we are looking for an other defender but what about a new GK?????
J i have just been on twitter how the hell did you get those Jay thomas pics?
Do you have his facebook or something?
Youngsters in squad for Emirates Cup..?? Any chance of Barazite, Lansbury and Eastmond playing..?? Will W. Silva be training with the first-team during the next two weeks..?? I feel each of our keepers will get a half each in the Emirates Cup….
http://www.arsenal.com/news/emirates-cup/midfield-quartet-missing-for-emirates-cup
Looks like Frimpong will start at the Emirates Cup then, unless Eastmond recovers from his injury.
To be honest, it doesn’t look like we’ve got a great chance of winning the Emirates Cup, but it will be a good chance to see our youngsters in first team situations. My prediction:
Arsenal XI vs AC Milan
Arshavin-Chamakh-Walcott
Wilshere-Frimpong-Nasri
Clichy-Vermaelen-Koscielny-Sagna
Fabianski
Why? Celtic and Milan are poor and I expect to beat them both. Between us and Lyon.
Fuck them. We don’t need him. We have far better kids in our academy. In fact we have tons of them.