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Sante Fe announces Valdes loan, Combine/SuperDraft news, NWSL allocation, more

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union

Independiente Santa Fe president Cesar Pestrana says in a statement on the club’s website that Carlos Valdes has joined the Colombian club on a one year loan (crappy translation here). We are awaiting confirmation from the Union.

Jonathan Tannenwald reported on Monday morning, “Although the official website of Colombian club Independiente Santa Fe announced the signing of Union defender Carlos Valdés on Sunday evening, the deal is apparently not yet complete. A source with direct knowledge of the talks told Philly.com that the paperwork has not yet been signed, and has not even been received by the Union’s front office yet.”

El Tiempo first reported on Saturday that, on Saturday afternoon, MLS approved a one year loan deal for Carlos Valdes to Santa Fe with an option to purchase (crappy Google translation here).

That article was written by the editor of El Tiempo.

On Sunday, Terra.com also reported the a deal had been approved (crappy Google translation here) and Golcaracol.com reported that a loan deal was “confirmed”(crappy Google translation here). The report includes what appears to be TV report on the deal but Google doesn’t translate audio, even in a crappy way.

Later on Sunday, the Caracol Radio website posted a report that said, “Independiente Santa Fe confirms the return of Carlos Valdés” (crappy translation here).

This follows a report from Terra.com on Friday that Santa Fe was the only suitor left for Carlos Valdes (crappy Google translation here). Uruguayan club Nacional has signed Efrain Cortes, another Colombian defender, and, as first reported by El Pias, Valdes turned down Deportivo Cali because his family did not want to return to that city to live (crap translation here).

Simon Borg previews the Union’s SuperDraft needs, the No. 1 priority of which is a left back. Borg makes a good point: the club has international spots to trade if they want to move up in the draft order after dealing away their first round pick to acquire Bakary Soumare.

The website overtimeafrica.com has brief Q&A’s with Amobi Okugo, Michael Lahoud, and Freddy Adu. Some points of interest:

  • When asked if he would accept a call-up to the Nigerian national team, Okugo says he grew up hearing stories of the golden generation at the 1994 World Cup. “My dad always tells me stories of Nigerian internationals and I’m sure he’d be happy if that were to ever arise but so far I haven’t gotten any calls yet but you never know, we’ll see what happens.”
  • Lahoud says of the possibility of a Sierra Leone call-up, “This year has been a crazy year so I haven’t really heard anything but if the right opportunity came up, I’d definitely be interested.
  • Adu says of the 2012 season, “Some good games some bad games, I gotta get better at being consistent but in my opinion there was more good than bad this season and next season I’m gonna look to improve on that…I’ve gotten unlucky with some injuries here and there but I just want to build on it and next season I guarantee you I will have a better season.”
  • Adu says of a USA call-up, “I haven’t talked to him, he hasn’t called me or anything. I know he’s called certain guys as I have friends on the team but I would love to hear his opinion and input on what I really need to do to get back there because I really want to be a part of it.”

Cristhian Hernandez talks about his training stint with Real Sociedad and his plans for first team action in 2013.

Union academy forward Darius Madison has been called up to the US U-20 training camp that will take place in Peubla, Mexico beginning today through Jan. 22. Peubla will be the site of the CONCACAF U-20 championship Feb. 18-March 3.

The 700 Level considers the dilemma of whether or not to get a Union jersey with a player’s name on the back.

A belated happy birthday to Raymon Gaddis.

Local

If you haven’t already, check out our breakdown of the Reading United alumni available in Thursday’s SuperDraft.

MLS

Kyle McCarthy looks at Day One and Day Two of the MLS Combine. Reading United alums Ryan Finley and Jose Gomez feature in the report on Day Two.

SBI does the same and says midfielders stood out on Day One.

Soccer America says intrigue surrounds the top picks at the SuperDraft.

ProSoccerTalk has a few things you should know about the draft.

NWSL

The allocation of national team players was announced on Friday.

Reports and analysis of the allocation from Sporting News, New York Times, ASN, Soccer America, ProSoccer Talk and Equalizer. Equalizer says Portland got the cream of the crop and it seems they feel the same way in Seattle.

In case you’re wondering Delran’s Carli Lloyd ended up with Western New York Flash and Jill Loyden with Sky Blue FC.

All White Kit has an impressive breakdown of the players available in the upcoming NWSL college draft.

US

Soccer America’s USMNT positional rankings continue with a look at right midfielders.

Elsewhere

The Association of Football Agents has called FIFA’s planned Global Player Exchange (GPX) system, aimed at reducing the influence of agents, unworkable and illegal.

A player at English fourth division club Dagenham & Redbridge says that he was racially abused by an opponent during a home game on Saturday. Satuday’s game was “Daggers Against Racism Family Fun Day.’

 

16 Comments

  1. Carlos Valdes sigh.
    If you need me I will be in my room… crying.

  2. whose gonna cpatian now…

    • crap… I meant captain…

    • I suppose Carroll when he’s in the XI. I’d vote for Williams as a secondary captain.

      • Yeah I would think – and hope – it’d be Carroll, and if he’s not starting either Parke or Williams would suffice. Normally being chosen as the captain of a team is an honor, but it seems to be a ticket out of town for the Union. At least Valdes is leaving on better terms, and for a more respectable reason – or an actual reason for that matter.

    • Maybe Le Toux

      • +1.

        They need some stability, and it appears that LeToux will be sticking with the team this time. I think he’s more of a “leader by example” than a vocal on-field leader, but maybe there’s some value to that. I would not pick Brian Carroll, as it’s not wholly clear to me how often he’ll be in the starting XI this year.

    • James "4-3-3" Forever says:

      Captain = MacMath
      Ass. Captain = Adu

  3. Can someone explain the logic behind a loan instead of just selling him? Loans are for players that you can’t unload or that you want to get some minutes.

    If the Union are going to go without a starter (their captain) for a whole year, why not just sell him? If he suffers a major injury while on loan, the Union are stuck holding the bag.

    • Originally I thought it was so the Union could negotiate the price after the year’s loan — if Valdes rocked it, the price would go up. But apparently the sale price is already set. So I’m kind of lost too …

    • I think it’s because either Santa Fe doesn’t want to pay the likely high transfer fee MLS wanted, or because the Union don’t wanna slam the door on him returning. If things don’t work out with the national team and he doesn’t become a consistent starter the Union should pull the plug and bring him back – or demand the transfer fee outright.

  4. IF I were a betting man, I’d put my $ on SW25 being the next captain.
    ***
    I posted this on another thread, but this whole “play in Colombia for a national team spot” seems strange. Most of the regular Colombian starters play in Europe. (i.e., Falcao, Guarin, Carlos Sanchez, Yepes) Only 3 of the 24 called in for the last friendly – against Brazil, where they called in almost every potnetial starter — play in the Colombian league. Mondragon was one those 3. Sante Fe has had ONE (i.e., the same as the Union) player called up in the last 12 months – a 23 YO GK.

    • I think it’s less ‘play in Colombia’ and more ‘don’t play in MLS’. The Colombian federation has a serious bug up its butt about MLS. I think Valdes was the first to get a call-up while playing in the MLS. I think Colombia’s Fed uses the national team as leverage to keep players from leaving. The MLS is pretty comparable to the Colombian league in terms of pay and quality. The big difference is that the players can play without, you know, the fear of getting shot for an own goal. If the Colombians relaxed their boycott on MLS players on the national team, the top players would stay in Europe, but all the talent at the next level in the Colombian league would be here next week.

  5. Why do I suspect the signing the Union were going on about last week was the signing of Valdes to Sante Fe.

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