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Monday MLS Breakdown: Peculiar Road Leads Luis Gil To Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake landed U.S. U-17 midfielder Luis Gil last week, but his path to Utah took an unusual turn along the way. Kyle McCarthy explains in the Monday MLS Breakdown.
Mar 1, 2010 6:44:00 AM
By Kyle McCarthy
Kansas City manager Peter Vermes knew he faced long odds as he tried to persuade U.S. under-17 midfielder Luis Gil to start his MLS career with the Wizards.
Considering his team had just won the weighted lottery held last Monday to distribute the coveted midfielder's rights, Vermes wanted to see if the Wizards' luck might hold.
“Our idea was to see if we could talk with him, talk with his parents, whichever way we could do it, to try and sell him on what Kansas City had to offer over the next seven years of his development as a player,” Vermes said.
The Wizards weren't in Gil's plans when he finally inked a deal with MLS on Feb. 19. The 16-year-old attacking midfielder shunned reported interest from Arsenal and Real Madrid to engage in protracted negotiations with MLS after last fall's FIFA U-17 World Cup. As a sought-after prospect with enough upside to make coaches dream about the future, Gil generated the type of leverage MLS veterans twice his age crave.
Gil, his parents, and his agent, Mike Gartlan, used that leverage to strike the type of deal few players elicit from MLS. Gartlan – a former professional goalkeeper who serves as a director at Pateadores Soccer Club, Gil's youth club in southern California – procured a lucrative, long-term deal and arranged to have Gil land with one of two clubs – Real Salt Lake or Seattle – regardless of which team ended up with his rights.
Even though the parameters of Gil's availability were made clear to every MLS team prior to the draw, Vermes, in agreement with other members of the Kansas City front office, attempted to add a third team to Gil's exclusive list. Those pleas, however, ended as one might expect with the carefully laid plans already in place and the lengthy distance between Kansas City and Gil's hometown of Garden Grove, Calif. Gartlan made clear Kansas City wasn't in Gil's future, forcing Vermes to weigh his trading options.
“We wanted to take the opportunity to see if it was feasible, but we also realize what the reality was as well,” Vermes said. “At that point, it was all about who was going to give us the better deal since the player didn't want to go down that road.”
Vermes and the Wizards weren't in the best spot to demand a significant package due to Gil's truncated list of destinations, but the market of two could still yield satisfactory results. Both teams weighed what represented fair value for a player expected to need time to develop into a contributor at the MLS level and pondered how much the other team might offer before submitting a bid.
“The first step is figuring out what you can afford to give,” Real Salt Lake general manager Garth Lagerwey said after his team landed Gil. “There is no 16-year-old that is a can't miss player. You have to look at what you're willing to give up for a young, talented player who we think may be a (real contributor) in a couple of years.”
Real Salt Lake's currently cozy relationship with the salary budget allowed Lagerwey to include an asset he knew Vermes would need as he tried to rebuild the Wizards. Vermes has evaluated several foreign players during the preseason, but doesn't have enough international slots available to accommodate all of them on his roster. Since Lagerwey said he prefers quality over quantity when he acquires a foreign player and doesn't possess the budgetary flexibility to shell out a significant amount on a new signing, he decided that RSL could afford to ship one of its international slots to the Wizards for a year as part of its proposed deal.
The international slot provided an instant perk to an offer otherwise heavy on future considerations (a second-round SuperDraft pick in 2011 and 25 percent of any transfer fee eventually reaped) and short on immediate impact. Including the international slot may not have proved decisive, but it certainly played a part in the final outcome as Vermes opted to send the young midfielder to RSL instead of Seattle.
The end game left Vermes relatively satisfied in light of the unusual circumstances involved. While Vermes said he would have liked the opportunity to sell Gil and his family on the positives of a career in Kansas City earlier in the process, he also noted the Wizards didn't lose anything by serving as Gil's temporary stopover point on the way to Utah either. The Wizards remain eligible for other potential lottery acquisitions – usually, emerging victorious from one draw rules a club out of other lotteries for the remainder of the year – and now boast an unanticipated trio of assets that could prove useful now and in the future.
“The bids came in and I think we got a decent deal,” Vermes said. “You always think you can do better, especially when you own 100 percent of the player's rights when he first came to you, but, at the same time, it is what it is.”
If the Wizards acquired a few baubles for their hit-and-run troubles, then Real Salt Lake picked up the proverbial crown jewel in a carefully planned heist. Lagerwey said RSL registered its interest in December as Gil hammered out a deal with the league and subsequently chatted with him and his family to outline its expectations before the young midfielder added RSL – a club that had Brian Gil, Luis' brother, in camp with the club during the John Ellinger era – to his list of possible destinations.
Lagerwey called the young midfielder “gifted,” but noted that RSL will follow its policy of developing young players slowly and give Gil plenty of time to hone his game. RSL's depth ensures there isn't any pressure on Gil to play right away anyways, so the organization can facilitate the young midfielder's transition to his new environment. Lagerwey said he expects it will take the teenager some time to adjust.
“We're definitely excited about him,” Lagerwey said. “I've been careful to state (in interviews) that we have no expectations for him right away. It's all about finding the comfort level for him. We're going to throw a lot at him (in the professional environment) right away.”
With the lottery now consigned to its proper role as a peculiar footnote in his nascent career and his new home finally determined, Gil can now focus on the odds that matter most to him: his chances of excelling at the professional level.
Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page.
Kansas City manager Peter Vermes knew he faced long odds as he tried to persuade U.S. under-17 midfielder Luis Gil to start his MLS career with the Wizards.
Considering his team had just won the weighted lottery held last Monday to distribute the coveted midfielder's rights, Vermes wanted to see if the Wizards' luck might hold.
“Our idea was to see if we could talk with him, talk with his parents, whichever way we could do it, to try and sell him on what Kansas City had to offer over the next seven years of his development as a player,” Vermes said.
The Wizards weren't in Gil's plans when he finally inked a deal with MLS on Feb. 19. The 16-year-old attacking midfielder shunned reported interest from Arsenal and Real Madrid to engage in protracted negotiations with MLS after last fall's FIFA U-17 World Cup. As a sought-after prospect with enough upside to make coaches dream about the future, Gil generated the type of leverage MLS veterans twice his age crave.
Gil, his parents, and his agent, Mike Gartlan, used that leverage to strike the type of deal few players elicit from MLS. Gartlan – a former professional goalkeeper who serves as a director at Pateadores Soccer Club, Gil's youth club in southern California – procured a lucrative, long-term deal and arranged to have Gil land with one of two clubs – Real Salt Lake or Seattle – regardless of which team ended up with his rights.
Even though the parameters of Gil's availability were made clear to every MLS team prior to the draw, Vermes, in agreement with other members of the Kansas City front office, attempted to add a third team to Gil's exclusive list. Those pleas, however, ended as one might expect with the carefully laid plans already in place and the lengthy distance between Kansas City and Gil's hometown of Garden Grove, Calif. Gartlan made clear Kansas City wasn't in Gil's future, forcing Vermes to weigh his trading options.
“We wanted to take the opportunity to see if it was feasible, but we also realize what the reality was as well,” Vermes said. “At that point, it was all about who was going to give us the better deal since the player didn't want to go down that road.”
Vermes and the Wizards weren't in the best spot to demand a significant package due to Gil's truncated list of destinations, but the market of two could still yield satisfactory results. Both teams weighed what represented fair value for a player expected to need time to develop into a contributor at the MLS level and pondered how much the other team might offer before submitting a bid.
“The first step is figuring out what you can afford to give,” Real Salt Lake general manager Garth Lagerwey said after his team landed Gil. “There is no 16-year-old that is a can't miss player. You have to look at what you're willing to give up for a young, talented player who we think may be a (real contributor) in a couple of years.”
Real Salt Lake's currently cozy relationship with the salary budget allowed Lagerwey to include an asset he knew Vermes would need as he tried to rebuild the Wizards. Vermes has evaluated several foreign players during the preseason, but doesn't have enough international slots available to accommodate all of them on his roster. Since Lagerwey said he prefers quality over quantity when he acquires a foreign player and doesn't possess the budgetary flexibility to shell out a significant amount on a new signing, he decided that RSL could afford to ship one of its international slots to the Wizards for a year as part of its proposed deal.
The international slot provided an instant perk to an offer otherwise heavy on future considerations (a second-round SuperDraft pick in 2011 and 25 percent of any transfer fee eventually reaped) and short on immediate impact. Including the international slot may not have proved decisive, but it certainly played a part in the final outcome as Vermes opted to send the young midfielder to RSL instead of Seattle.
The end game left Vermes relatively satisfied in light of the unusual circumstances involved. While Vermes said he would have liked the opportunity to sell Gil and his family on the positives of a career in Kansas City earlier in the process, he also noted the Wizards didn't lose anything by serving as Gil's temporary stopover point on the way to Utah either. The Wizards remain eligible for other potential lottery acquisitions – usually, emerging victorious from one draw rules a club out of other lotteries for the remainder of the year – and now boast an unanticipated trio of assets that could prove useful now and in the future.
“The bids came in and I think we got a decent deal,” Vermes said. “You always think you can do better, especially when you own 100 percent of the player's rights when he first came to you, but, at the same time, it is what it is.”
If the Wizards acquired a few baubles for their hit-and-run troubles, then Real Salt Lake picked up the proverbial crown jewel in a carefully planned heist. Lagerwey said RSL registered its interest in December as Gil hammered out a deal with the league and subsequently chatted with him and his family to outline its expectations before the young midfielder added RSL – a club that had Brian Gil, Luis' brother, in camp with the club during the John Ellinger era – to his list of possible destinations.
Lagerwey called the young midfielder “gifted,” but noted that RSL will follow its policy of developing young players slowly and give Gil plenty of time to hone his game. RSL's depth ensures there isn't any pressure on Gil to play right away anyways, so the organization can facilitate the young midfielder's transition to his new environment. Lagerwey said he expects it will take the teenager some time to adjust.
“We're definitely excited about him,” Lagerwey said. “I've been careful to state (in interviews) that we have no expectations for him right away. It's all about finding the comfort level for him. We're going to throw a lot at him (in the professional environment) right away.”
With the lottery now consigned to its proper role as a peculiar footnote in his nascent career and his new home finally determined, Gil can now focus on the odds that matter most to him: his chances of excelling at the professional level.
Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page.
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